San Francisco Giants left-hander Carson Whisenhunt struggled early in his major league debut Monday against a weak Pittsburgh Pirates lineup. The Giants' top pitching prospect completed five innings, allowing four earned runs while striking out three. Command was an issue, as Whisenhunt threw just 49 of 85 pitches for strikes, walking two and allowing five hits. He struggled in the first two innings but settled in by the third, tossing three scoreless frames to finish his outing. Despite his effort, the Giants dropped the game 6-5. Whisenhunt will likely face much tougher competition in his next start against the New York Mets.

San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt is coming up to the majors to make his debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, manager Bob Melvin announced. A second-round pick in 2022, the left-handed Whisenhunt now ranks as the Giants' third-best prospect at MLB Pipeline. Whisenhunt has spent the season with Triple-A Sacramento in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and posted a 4.42 ERA with 88 strikeouts and 28 walks over 97 2/3 innings. While those aren't great numbers, the Giants are lacking starting options behind the strong duo of Logan Webb and Robbie Ray and the declining Justin Verlander. They lost Landen Roupp (elbow) to the 15-day injured list earlier this week, and Hayden Birdsong isn't eligible to return to the majors yet after the team just optioned him to Triple-A on July 22. The Giants will now turn to Whisenhunt, who at least has a favorable matchup for his first start. The Pirates rank last in the majors in runs, and their .270 wOBA against lefties also sits at the bottom of the league.

San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt has underwhelmedat Triple-A this year, posting a 4.50 ERA (4.92 xFIP), a 1.33 WHIP, and 82 strikeouts in 94 innings pitched. The Giants' second-ranked prospect has greatly improved his year-over-year walk rate, from 11.1 percent to 7.1 percent, but it appears to be at the expense of his strikeout rate, going from 28.4 percent to 20.9 percent. Also, although the walk rate improved, the 6-foot-3 lefty has thrown the fifth-most wild pitches in the minors this year, totaling 10 of them thus far. An MLB debut looked like a slam dunk earlier this year, but the picture is a bit more cloudy now. It will still likely happen, but not nearly as soon as thought, and the 24-year-old no longer looks like a must-stash in advance of an eventual call-up.

San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt allowed five runs on five hits and three walks while striking out five over six innings against Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday. Whisenhunt took the loss in this one as he battled to get through six frames. After a dominant month of May, allowing only 11 earned runs in 38.2 innings, the left-hander has allowed eight runs in 11.2 innings through two starts in June. It was just his third start of the season where he allowed three or more walks. Primarily known for his strong changeup, the 24-year-old could earn a promotion at some point this season and carve out a role as a back-end starter or in long relief.

San Francisco Giants left-handed pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt enjoyed another strong outing on Sunday against Triple-A Salt Lake. In this outing, the left-hander logged seven innings of one-run ball (unearned run) and allowed just two hits. He served up one free pass and struck out five. In his last outing on May 13, Whisenhunt also logged seven innings. In that start, he struck out nine and served up three hits with no runs. Through his first 51 innings of the Triple-A regular season, the top pitching prospect in San Francisco has held a strong 3.00 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP. He has tallied 52 punchouts and allowed just seven free passes. Last summer, Whisenhunt logged 104 2/3 innings to the tune of a 5.42 ERA at Triple-A. Given his steady development, he should be in the mix to reach the majors in the coming months.

San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt tossed seven shutout innings on Tuesday for Triple-A Sacramento, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out nine batters. It's the third straight seven-inning start with at least seven strikeouts for the former second-round draft pick, now with a 3.48 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a 47:6 K:BB over eight starts (44 IP). The 94 pitches that the lefty threw on Tuesday indicate he's fully stretched out, so at this point, it looks like an opportunity just needs to present itself, and the Giants' second-ranked prospect should be on the way to the majors for a big league debut. Expect that to happen sometime in June, if not sooner. Managers in NL-only leagues could start considering stashing the 6-foot-3 hurler as he's shown marked improvement in command this season (3.4 percent) to go along with a good strikeout rate (26.6 percent).

San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt pitched well for Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday, allowing two earned runs on six hits and no walks while striking out seven over seven innings pitched. That makes back-to-back seven-inning, seven-strikeout starts for the 6-foot-3 hurler. The performance lowered his ERA to 4.14 on the season to go along with a 1.22 WHIP and 38 strikeouts in 37 IP. The Giants' second-ranked prospect will likely make a push for a midseason call-up, although he is not a priority stash candidate at the moment. The 24-year-old owns a 30.2 percent strikeout rate during his career in the minors with solid command, so he has the potential to be a viable streaming or DFS option intheright matchups whenever he arrives.

San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt looked sharp in his latest outing on Saturday. In this outing, Whisenhunt tossed six shutout innings against Triple-A Salt Lake. In this start, Whisenhunt allowed just one hit and one walk. He struck out nine batters. This was a much-needed bounce-back for the southpaw as he allowed eight hits and four runs across three 1/3 innings against Tacoma. Through his first four outings of the Triple-A regular season, Whisenhunt has held a solid 2.70 ERA with a 0.95 WHIP. Across 20 innings, he has struck out 23 batters and shown elite control, allowing just two free passes. This is an excellent improvement for the former 66th overall pick as he held a 5.42 ERA with a 1.61 WHIP across his first 104 2/3 innings at Triple-A last summer. He should contend for his MLB debut later this season.