Six starts was all it took for the San Francisco Giants to decide that 22-year-old Carson Whisenhunt had nothing left to learn in high-A ball. After 13 relief appearances, 23-year-old Jose Cruz is headed to double-A Richmond as well.
The two pitchers made their final appearance with the Eugene Emeralds a memorable one, with Whisenhunt notching seven strikeouts in five one-hit innings, and Cruz striking out four in two perfect innings.
The dominant outing earned the pair a double promotion to AA Richmond, where the two hope to continue to thrive as Flying Squirrels.
Whisenhunt was the Giants' second-round draft pick in 2022. Last year, he pitched just 7 2/3 innings, but they were very impressive. Whisenhunt struck out 14 batters, while walking only one, giving up six hits and zero runs. In 18 1/3 innings over two years for the San Jose Giants, Whisenhunt had 27 strikeouts against five walks, logging a 2.45 ERA.
He's doing it with a killer changeup, considered the best one in the 2022 draft class. While that's already a major-league quality pitch, the promotion to double-A should challenge Whisenhunt to develop his full arsenal of pitches, since he's clearly dominating single-A hitters.
The Giants signed Jose Cruz in 2017, but he had his breakthrough in 2022 for San Jose. Cruz struck out 86 hitters in 52 1/3 innings - 14.8 per nine innings - and made the California League All-Star team. He struck out a whopping 42.6% of the batters he faced last year. The Giants thought so much of Cruz that they added him to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
Cruz throws in the mid-90s, but his arm angle and low three-quarters delivery make it especially difficult to pick up. He'd fit in great with Tyler Rogers and Ryan Walker! Cruz also cut his walk rate this year, which may have been the last thing the Giants wanted to see before promoting him.
In a year where the Giants have been aggressively promoting their prospects, Whisenhunt and Cruz are both moving up rapidly. While Whisenhunt may be the higher-rated prospect, Cruz may arrive at the majors faster, as a strikeout-heavy reliever who's been regularly making multi-inning relief appearances.
One thing we know: If you're a Richmond Flying Squirrels fan, you're going to see a lot of strikeouts soon.
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