Top Ranked San Francisco Giants Pitching Prospect Dominates in His First Start

The San Francisco Giants started one of their top prospects in Triple-A this season, and in his first start of the year, he showed why he's so highly ranked.

Jul 8, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; National League Futures relief pitcher Carson Whisenhunt (18) of the San Francisco Giants pitches to the American League during the third inning of the All Star-Futures game at T-Mobile Park. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have started out the year strong, with a 2-1 record and flashes of fun baseball for fans to watch.

With the team making multiple offseason additions to improve the ceiling of their roster, they put some of their top prospects in Triple-A to continue developing instead of sitting on the bench in reserve roles.

This gives those young players a chance to get more experience before reaching the MLB.

One of those players is No. 2 prospect in the Giants' farm system Carson Whisenhunt.

The left-hander made his first start of the year on March 30 against the Albuquerque Isotopes, and in the game he produced a pretty spectacular stat line aside from the few spot runs he gave up.

In 4.2 innings pitched, he had a whopping nine strikeouts with no walks allowed. He gave up two earned runs on a homer and a double. While he was credited with the loss, the strikeout total across 65 pitches is pretty spectacular.

Additionally, minor league baseball analyst Chris Clegg noted that Whisenhunt drew 14 whiffs, a 75% strike rate and his fastball saw over an inch of increase in induced vertical break compared to last season.

It was also reported by the MLB pipeline account that eight of Whisenhunt's nine strikeouts in the game came off of his changeup, which is a pitch that has received a grade of 70 and is one of the key components of his game.

At the moment San Francisco has enough starting pitchers to not call up Whisenhunt yet, especially considering they are already using Hayden Birdsong out of the bullpen despite being viewed as a starter.

However, as the team goes on down the stretch of the season and things change, he may end up getting an opportunity for some MLB playing time closer to the trade deadline.

With injuries being a concern for any pitching staff, the odds are that one to two starters may be shifted out of the rotation in favor of someone else during any given season, especially when factoring in poor performances that could arrise, as well.

Talent finds its way to the top, and if Whisenhunt performs at this type of level over a substantial sample size, the Giants will have no choice other than to call him up eventually.