Giants Top Prospect Carson Whisenhunt Uneven in Long-Awaited MLB Debut

Carson Whisenhunt, the San Francisco Giants’ No. 3 prospect, made his Major League debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.

The Giants decided to start the clock on his MLB career at Oracle Park after moving starter Landen Roupp to the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation last week.

Given that it was Whisenhunt’s MLB debut, it was uneven.

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The left-hander allowed five hits and four runs (all earned) in five innings. He struck out three, walked two and gave up a home run. But, when he left the game, it was tied at 4-4.

The first two innings were rough for the 24-year-old. He retired the first two hitters in the first inning before he allowed a solo home run to Nick Gonzales, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

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Things got away from him in the second inning, as he gave up three runs. He gave up back-to-back one-out walks, followed by a strikeout of Henry Davis. Nearly out of the inning, he gave up a double to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, which scored Alexander Canario and Liover Peguero to make it 3-1 Pirates.

Then, Whisenhunt gave up a single to Tommy Pham that scored Kiner-Falefa before he finally struck out Andrew McCutchen to get out of the inning.

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He settled down after the second inning. Whisenhunt allowed a leadoff single to Gonzales, but he retired the next three hitters.

Whisenhunt retired the side in the fourth inning. In the fifth, he gave up a leadoff single to Pham but retired the next three hitters to complete the frame.

Whisenhunt gave the Giants solid length in the start. He hadn’t completed six innings in a start since June 11 and in his last start with Sacramento he only threw 3.2 innings, but he gave up one run on five hits.

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Whisenhunt was the Giants’ second-round pick in 2022 out of East Carolina. He was 8-5 with a 4.42 ERA in 18 starts with Triple-A Sacramento before his call-up. He struck out 86 and walked 28 in 97.2 innings.

For his minor league career, he is 12-11 with a 4.18 ERA in 65 games (64 starts). He had 324 strikeouts and 108 walks in 273.2 innings.

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