Giants lefty Carson Whisenhunt exited last night’s game after experiencing pain in his left elbow and is headed for an MRI to determine if there’s a notable injury at play, reports Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle. Rubin adds that Whisenhunt had an elbow sprain back in 2023 but says this discomfort is different and that he’s “never felt anything like this” previously.
It’s an ominous development for the 2022 second-rounder, who previously ranked inside the game’s top 100 prospects at MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus and has been considered one of the Giants’ top arms since he was taken 66th overall four summers ago.
Whisenhunt has yet to establish himself as a quality big league starter. He’s pitched to a 6.49 ERA in eight starts and 34 2/3 innings this season, though it’s now fair to wonder whether those numbers were impacted at all by elbow troubles. Whisenhunt tossed 2 2/3 shutout innings in his final appearance but was dinged for seven runs over four frames in his prior start — his fourth time giving up four or more runs in a span of five starts.
While he’s hardly been dominant in Triple-A this season, Whisenhunt has impressed in an extremely hitter-friendly setting (Sacramento and the Pacific Coast League in general). He’s made 17 appearances, 16 of them starts, and delivered a 4.15 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate in 82 1/3 frames. For context on just how hitter-friendly the PCL is, Whisenhunt’s 4.15 ERA ranks 10th among all pitchers who’ve tossed at least 50 frames. Arizona’s Mitch Bratt is the only PCL pitcher (again, min. 50 innings) with a sub-3.00 ERA.
Were Whisenhunt healthy, the final few weeks of the season would serve as a vital proving ground for him. The Giants traded Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle at the deadline — they’d have been free agents anyhow — and have little in the way of long-term certainty on the starting staff. Logan Webb is locked into the top spot unless the Giants reconsider their stance on listening to trade offers this winter. Landen Roupp hasn’t been quite as sharp as last season, but he’s shown himself to be a capable major league rotation cog.
Beyond that pair, the Giants have nothing in place. Adrian Houser‘s two-year, $22MM deal was an eyebrow-raiser the moment he signed it, and he pitched to an ERA well north of 5.00 in the rotation before being dropped to the bullpen. He’s excelled in a long relief role and figures to get some starts down the stretch to show he can reclaim a rotation spot next year. Even if he’s successful in doing so, Houser is a fourth or fifth starter. Other options like Blade Tidwell and Matt Wilkinson will get some chances in September, too, but haven’t proven themselves in the big leagues yet. Newly acquired prospects like Ramon Marquez and Henry Lalane rank toward the top of San Francisco’s system but haven’t even advanced to Double-A yet. They’re not plausible options for the 2027 season — at least not early in the year.
If Whisenhunt avoids a major injury, he’ll be in the mix for a spot on next year’s staff, but the IL trip still has consequences. It prevents the team from getting a good look at him and establishing any sort of confidence in penciling him into next year’s staff. The Giants will enter the winter feeling they need at least two new starters — and three would be preferable if they’re aiming to contend. Whisenhunt’s injury also impacts his trade value, of course, if president of baseball ops Buster Posey looks to dangle him in a package for a more established veteran arm.
In the short term, Whisenhunt’s injury opens more innings for pitchers like Tidwell, Wilkinson and any other young arms/prospects the Giants may want to consider (e.g. Joe Whitman). The forthcoming MRI will tell us what sort of long-term impacts it might hold. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining after the current season, so he can head back to Triple-A in the future if need be.
