San Francisco Giants Send Two More Top-Ten Prospects Back To Minor League Camp

The San Francisco Giants roster cuts have continued.

Sep 29, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Trevor McDonald (72) delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning during his Major League debut at Oracle Park. / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have continued to trim down their spring training roster and what the team will look like on Opening Day is starting to take shape.

Just one day after optioning both former top prospect Marco Luciano and right-handed pitcher Mason Black while outright returning current top prospect Bryce Eldridge to minor league camp, the Giants sent two more high profile prospects back down as well on Thursday morning.

As first reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco optioned right-handed pitcher Trevor McDonald and outright returned left-handed pitcher Carson Whisenhunt to minor league camp.

An option implies a player was on the 40-man roster and a team can only option a player a limited number of times while a return to minor league camp is for when a player was not on the roster and simply invited to big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

McDonald, currently rated as the team's No. 10 prospect, made his MLB debut in the final game of the 2024 regular season and threw three hitless innings out of the bullpen with one walk and one strikeout.

Across 23 appearances and 23 starts in 2024 from rookie ball all the way to Triple-A, McDonald had a 4.40 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 86 innings before working his way to San Francisco in the veru last game of the year.

Whisenhunt on the other hand is the Giants No. 2 rated prospect and expected to be a critical part of the rotation sooner rather than later. The lefty is the top pitching prospect in the organization and the No. 8 left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball.

His 5.42 ERA over 25 starts in Triple-A this past season is not ideal, but the Giants do not seem concerned. An elite arsenal of pitches with nasty stuff leading to an incredibly encouraging strikeout rate has San Francisco believing Whisenhunt is going to be a star at the next level.

Seeing each player return to Triple-A is not exactly a surprise at least to begin the year, but both are expected to contribute to the big league roster at some point this season. Whisenhunt is going to be one of the next in line when injuries inevitably occur in the starting rotation while McDonald could make a return to the team's bullpen.

Regardless of what the plan is, the Giants are making the necessary roster moves as the season fast approaches.

Recommended Articles

feed