When will prospect Carson Whisenhunt make a splash in the Giants' rotation?

The 25-year-old lefthander shows the promise of being an MLB starter, and San Francisco should consider elevating him sooner rather than later

Aug 6, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Carson Whisenhunt (88) throws in the outfield before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Right now, 25-year-old Carson Whisenhunt is standing at a unique crossroads in his young career. The lefthanded starter has all the right stuff to have an astronomical impact on the San Francisco Giants' rotation, but so far, that mission has been grounded.

Whisenhunt is getting to an age now where he's getting a little too old to be considered a standard prospect, but he hasn't had enough sucess at the highest leve to qualify as a big leaguer. In the meantime, it seems like the team and the fans have been waiting on him to blast off and take things to a whole new frontier.

Drafted out of East Carolina University in 2022, the young hurler had been mired by a drug suspension for all of his junior season, which hurt his stock. However, the San Francisco Giants still chose him in the second round, with the 66th overall pick. Then, they set out to answer the biggest question surrounding the pick: The pitching was there, but would the talent persevere amidst the past problems?

The time is approaching for Wisenhunt

Mar 2, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Carson Whisenhunt against the Chicago White Sox during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The 6'3", 225-pound southpaw brings an array of pitches, but is known for having one of the better changeups in baseball right now. According to his official scouting report at MLB.com, Whisenhunt has all the right makeup for the Majors; he just hasn't put it all together yet.

"Whisenhunt sports one of the best changeups in baseball, a 78-81 mph tumbler that he can change shapes with while eliciting chases and in-zone swings-and-misses," the analysis reads. "He's most effective when he can push his fastball to 94-96 mph and get more velocity separation from his cambio, but he usually works in the low 90s without notable life. Both offerings got knocked around in his brief big league debut."

Last season, he got a break call-up with the big club, going 2-1, with a 5.01 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 23.1 innings over five starts. While his runs allowed seems a bit high, he would be no worse than what the club has in its starting rotation right now. Perhaps it's time to think of giving the older prospect a full-time position at the MLB level.

Whisenhunt is 2-2 with a 4.85 ERA in five start ths season for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. Given his age and the Giants' current place in the ranks of the league right now, why not consider bringing him up? There is the argument against 'starting his MLB clock', but that already happened last season. And Whisenhut at least looks like a guy who could eat some innings and pitch .500 baseball right now.

So what is the organization waiting for? In a lost season, with an aging prospect, the team has very little to lose in calling up Whisenhunt at some point, early to midseason, in what has been a disastrous 2026.