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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

At this rate, Carson Whisenhunt is going to be in the big leagues by 2024, if not late 2023.

He’s on the move again after he and Jose Cruz combined for a one-hitter in an 8-1 victory over Vancouver on May 31. After Whisenhunt worked five shutout innings with no walks and seven strikeouts, he was promoted to Double-A.

The amazing thing about that: He has climbed to AA just 16 games into his professional baseball career. He appeared in four games in 2022 after getting drafted in the second round. He started this year at Low-A San Jose. He was quickly called up to High-A Eugene. Here are his eye-popping numbers in six outings for the Eugene Emeralds: 25.1 innings, nine hits, four runs, eight walks, 36 strikeouts.

The 22-year-old lefty is the No. 8 prospect for the Giants according to MLB Pipeline. In 10 starts in 2023, he has a 2.08 ERA, fanning 56 in 39 innings, partly because he has a filthy changeup.

For the time being, Whisenhunt’s home games will be about four hours from home. His debut with the Richmond Flying Squirrels was June 7.

“It’s a pretty good changeup,” San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler said. “It’s a pretty physical, durable-looking body. It’s exciting to have a young player moving through the system like Whisenhunt is.”