For a while now, Carson Whisenhunt has been targeted as a key part of San Francisco’s second-half rotation. It’s been quite a long time since anyone who isn’t employed by the Giants thought the team could make a competitive run this year, and as the season becomes more and more fleshed out — and the deadline grows ever closer — even the Giants are forced to reckon with reality.
Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle, respected veterans who represent 40% of the team’s Opening Day rotation, will almost surely be traded, even as they slog through difficult seasons. Adrian Houser will be dangled, with Buster Posey hoping he’s not the only person on the planet who thought the mediocre veteran deserved a multi-year deal.
Add in the recent struggles of Trevor McDonald, who has temporarily stolen Mahle’s spot, and the picture couldn’t be any clearer: sooner or later, Whisenhunt will find himself slotted into the rotation, with a leash of indefinite length as the team shifts their focus to 2027.
Wednesday offered a sneak peak of that future. It may have also accelerated the timeline.
After Tuesday’s game was postponed in the second inning — meaning the starting pitcher, Houser, was limited to just one inning — the Giants needed to cover 17 innings on Wednesday. They learned from their mistake during the season’s first doubleheader, when they called up McDonald to be the allotted 27th man, but never used him, opting instead for a bullpen game and the scheduled starter. This time, Ray — initially scheduled to start the evening game — was pushed up to the early afternoon, to cover the rest of the series opener, which he did brilliantly. And Whisenhunt was brought up for his season debut, and handed the steering wheel for the full-length evening game.
He wasn’t excellent, but he was very good, which is more than Mahle and Houser can claim at virtually any point this season, and more than Ray can claim for most of it. And with that, Posey, Zack Minasian, and Tony Vitello have a decision on their hands. The Giants are 16.5 games out of the division lead, and 7.5 games out of the third wild card, while at no point looking like a competent baseball team (on or off the field, sadly). How can Whisenhunt return to Sacramento, where he’s already spent more than 280 innings honing his craft? How, after the way he pitched on Wednesday?
It was hairy at the start, admittedly. He fell behind 3-0 to the leadoff hitter, former Giant Mauricio Dubón, and eventually issued a walk to him. With two outs, he allowed a single to Ozzie Albies. It took him 21 pitches to get through the inning — efficiency has been a struggle for him this year — and even at that, it came with a scare, when Austin Riley’s third-out fly ball died at the warning track.
The second inning offered more of the same. Seen through one lens, Whisenhunt wasn’t at his sharpest, as he worked through a leadoff single and a one-out walk, throwing 18 pitches and once again escaping when the final out — a fly ball from Dubón that traveled 376 feet — died on the track. Seen through another lens, he showed his mettle, and was unfazed by danger from a great team. He looked like he’d been there before. He looked like he was never worried.
After those two stressful innings, Whisenhunt settled right in. He needed just seven pitches to cruise through the heart of Atlanta’s order in the third, striking out Drake Baldwin on three pitches, working a mild grounder from Matt Olson, and getting the laziest of fly balls from Albies. He gave up a leadoff single in the fourth, then retired the next three batters on eight pitches. He set down the side in order in the fifth inning.
It helps, of course, when your offense gives you a cushion, and the Giants did exactly that. They once again struck in the first inning — what a lovely sight — albeit with a little help from the Braves. Luis Arráez, who had drawn a leadoff walk, attempted to steal second on what would be strike three — and out No. 2 — to Matt Chapman. The thrown from Sandy León was excellent, and easily beat Arráez, save for one little issue: Albies forgot to catch the ball.
With that, life was gifted to the Giants, who did what good teams do in such situations: take advantage. Rafael Devers slapped a double the other way, scoring a run and keeping the line moving. That would be the only run of the inning, but it helped push rookie JR Ritchie’s pitch count up to 27.
It was the second inning where the Giants gave Whisenhunt a big enough lead that he would have no problem protecting it. It began when Willy Adames, who had homered in the first game, went deep on the second pitch of the inning, hitting a majestic shot exactly 400 feet.
But that was just the start. After a strange sequence — Casey Schmitt singled, Drew Gilbert replaced him on a fielder’s choice, and then Gilbert was thrown out stealing second on a play where it looked like he was only half-heartedly trying to steal the base — a new rally was started when Eric Haase drew a walk.
What followed could not have been predicted: Arráez, who has a reputation for both not hitting home runs and not swinging at the first pitch, swung at the first pitch … and hit a no-doubt home run, just the 39th of his eight-year career.
But if Arráez’s home run was a shocker, Bryce Eldridge’s was not. For the second time on the day, Giants lefties went back-to-back (in the first game it was Devers and Jung Hoo Lee), and with that, the game was broken open.
That was all the scoring the Giants would do until the ninth inning, when they scored a few desperately needed insurance runs. Whisenhunt had stayed in for the sixth inning, but given up three straight singles to open the frame, scoring a run and putting an Atlanta rally firmly in full force. JT Brubaker relieved the youngster and allowed one of the inherited runs to score (Whisenhunt’s final line: five innings, six hits, two walks, two runs, and two strikeouts), before getting out of the inning. The Giants continued with the drawing-headlines-for-the-wrong-reasons relief group, with Sam Hentges and Ryan Walker combining to pitch scoreless seventh and eighth innings, giving San Francisco a 5-2 lead into the ninth.
That’s where they added on, with a familiar man in the middle of it: Arráez. It was a small ball rally at the back of the lineup, with Schmitt knocking a leadoff single. He was then replaced by Jonah Cox, who promptly stole second … a move that was impressive, but ultimately meaningless, as Gilbert was immediately hit by a pitch. After Haase moved both runners over with a delightful bunt, Arráez brought them home with an opposite-field single … the quintessential Arráez hit.
It turned out to be a pretty critical one, too. The Giants had pushed their lead from three runs to five, which was mighty important when they proceeded to give up three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Matt Gage, who was activated off the Injured List in between the games, didn’t have his sharpest stuff. He ceded a one-out double to Jair Camargo (the first hit of his career), and then, after having two deep fly balls die on the track, Dubón finally pushed one over the fence for a two-run blast.
Back-to-back singles by Baldwin and Olson brought the tying run to the plate, and knocked Gage out of the game. In came the unlikely hero, Tristan Beck. He let one of the inherited runners score on a wild pitch, but induced a weak grounder from Albies, before striking out Riley to end the game, and granting the Giants a 7-5 victory.
The Giants haven’t had a lot of good days lately, but Wednesday was certainly one. A dominant showing from Ray, followed by an encouraging peak to the future with Whisenhunt. Six home runs on the day. Two wins against one of the best teams in baseball.
That’ll do.
