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Carson Whisenhunt made his Double-A debut look easy, the lefthander tossing a two-hit shutout over five innings as the Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Altoona Curve 6-1 on June 7.

Whisenhunt walked two, struck out seven and faced just 18 batters (three over the minimum) with 4,269 fans on hand.

This was his 15th professional start between four levels, and the numbers are crazy hot: 1.57 ERA, 77 strikeouts, 15 walks.

His success has been utterly mind-blowing in part because he didn’t enter the season with a lot of momentum.

In 2022, before he was picked by the San Francisco Giants in the second round, he had a 7.88 ERA over four starts in the Cape Cod League. His 2022 season included seven mound appearances between the Arizona Complex League, with Low-A San Jose and in the Arizona Fall League.

Then came an amazing 2023 season in which Whisenhunt has lived up to or surpassed every expectation the Giants have for the 22-year-old. In four starts for San Jose, he collected 20 Ks. For High-A Eugene, he carved out a 1.42 ERA over 25.1 innings, with eight walks and 36 Ks, as he earned Pitcher of the Month in the High-A Northwest League.

After making six starts for Eugene, Whisenhunt was promoted for the second time this season.

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Whisenhunt couldn’t stay that hot forever. He left after 3.2 innings in an eventual 7-5 loss to Bowie Baysox in his second Double-A start on June 13.

Although he gave up four runs on five hits, the outing wasn’t all bad. He walked one, struck out five and threw 47 of 69 pitches for strikes.