SF Giants pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt begins promising spring with first bullpen
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Carson Whisenhunt’s first time with the big-leaguers in spring training didn’t begin the way he wanted.
Taking pitchers’ fielding practice on the first day of camp, the San Francisco Giants’ promising left-handed pitching prospect took a comebacker off the index finger of his throwing hand. It delayed him by a week, but on Monday, Whisenhunt took the rubber in the bullpen beyond right field for the first time this spring.
“Finally,” Whisenhunt said shortly beforehand. “You don’t draw it up that way, but it happens.”
The 23-year-old rose quickly last season in his first full year of pro ball, after the Giants selected him in the second round of the 2022 draft. With a mid-90s fastball from the left side, a sturdy frame and polished changeup, there’s belief internally that trajectory will continue this season.
“It’s one of those pitches that you can sit on and still have a tough time putting it in play if he locates it,” Melvin said of the changeup. “I was looking forward (to seeing it) the other day and he took the ball off his finger.”
On the first full-squad workout of camp, Melvin had other commitments Monday than catching a peek of a pitcher who almost certainly won’t make the Opening Day roster. But pitching coach Bryan Price and assistant J.P. Martinez watched from behind the rubber.
Asked how the session went, Martinez used one word: “Special.”
Whisenhunt has refined the unique grip of his signature pitch — palming the ball, with only his pinkie and index finger touching leather — since he was 12 years old. Over the offseason, he worked on adding a second breaking, a slider, in addition to his curve.
But it was Whisenhunt’s heater that caught Martinez’s eye.
“I thought he was just a power guy, but I was pretty impressed with the fastball touch and feel in the bullpen,” Martinez said, comparing its two-plane movement profile to that of Jake McGee and Sean Manaea.
Amid a message of stretching out their young starters, Whisenhunt is one pitcher the new staff will monitor carefully.
Of more concern than a ball off the finger is the sprain he suffered in his throwing elbow last July. Often a precursor to Tommy John surgery, the issue wasn’t quite that serious but still necessitated shutting him down for the remainder of the season.
Making his final start for Double-A Richmond on July 22, Whisenhunt finished the season with a 2.45 ERA, 83 strikeouts and 23 walks over 16 starts and 58⅔ innings.
“I’m sure there will be some governing on him early,” Martinez said. “But then I hope to see him soon.”
Notable
— OF Mike Yastrzemski (shoulder) will be limited to begin camp after suffering an impingement in his left shoulder. Both sides of the projected platoon in right field could be limited when Cactus League games begin Saturday, with Austin Slater (elbow) still recovering from offseason surgery.
— The prognosis on Alex Cobb (hip) continues to be on or ahead of schedule. On Monday, the 36-year-old right-handed threw off a mound for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair the labrum in his left hip. LHP Reggie Crawford (lat) remains two to three weeks away from throwing again, while RHP Kai-Wei Teng (oblique) could start throwing next week.
— Appropriately, it was Logan Webb who threw the first live batting practice session of camp. His first foe was a headliner: Jorge Soler. But few batters took the wood off their shoulder on the first day of camp. A broken-bat flare and opposite field pop fly off the bat of Jung Hoo Lee against Sean Hjelle were some of the only balls put in play.
Hjelle was second to throw, after Webb faced Soler, Yastrzemski and Slater.
“How’d the hitting of the baseball go, you guys?” the always congenial Hjelle asked the hitters.
“Well,” responded Yastrzemski, “we tried.”
Numbers game
— With Melvin taking No. 6, Casey Schmitt (now No. 10) wasn’t the only Giants player to get a new digit. New slugger Jorge Soler will wear No. 2, forcing Blake Sabol to switch to No. 26. And with Mitch Haniger out of the picture, No. 17 now belongs to Heliot Ramos.