striking out<\/a> Jesus Rodriguez, Jake Holton and Bo Davidson on his signature changeup.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m feeling a lot better than I did last year,\u201d Whisenhunt said. \u201cI\u2019m moving better mechanically, especially, so everything\u2019s just kind of flowing right now. I\u2019m trying not to overdo it, but it came out hot today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whisenhunt, who had a 5.01 ERA over five starts in 2025, didn\u2019t exhibit this type of velocity during his brief time as a rookie in the majors last season. Over five starts, the left-hander had an average fastball velocity of 92.6 mph, which ranked in the 23rd percentile. His velocity with Triple-A Sacramento (92.3 mph) was no better.<\/p>\n
The left-hander said he was sinking in his back hip a lot more last year, which he felt like was \u201cblocking velo, so to speak.\u201d Now, Whisenhunt is a little more upright and trying to get into his back hip.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, just kind of throwing the [expletive] out of it,\u201d Whisenhunt said with a smile. \u201cThat\u2019s the best way to put it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his estimation, the last time Whisenhunt exhibited consistent mid-90s velocity was 2023, his first full season as a professional after being drafted in the second round of the \u201822 MLB draft. That year, which he spent with Single-A San Jose, High-A Eugene and Double-A Richmond, Whisenhunt\u2019s velocity sat in the 94-97 mph range.<\/p>\n
Whisenhunt, who\u2019s peaked as high as 98 mph, acknowledged that he probably won\u2019t consistently hit as high as 97. If he can sit comfortably in the 94, 95-mph range as he did in 2023, the rest of his arsenal plays up \u2014 especially his bread-and-butter changeup.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, trying to win a job, you have to do a little extra as a young guy, but not trying to overdo it,\u201d Whisenhunt said. \u201cBut also, get my work in and make sure I\u2019m ready for the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Improved velocity isn\u2019t the only new tool in Whisenhunt\u2019s bag. The left-hander, like many other young starters in camp, added a cutter to his repertoire. Whisenhunt has also worked on his slider, the focus being on generating more horizontal and downward movement.<\/p>\n
One of Whisenhunt\u2019s biggest additions to his game hasn\u2019t been extra velocity or refined pitches, but the subtraction of tipping.<\/p>\n
Whisenhunt and the Giants\u2019 coaching staff realized he was tipping pitches after his start against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 27, a game he won after allowing three earned runs over five innings. Before Whisenhunt could address the issue, his lower back began giving him issues and sidelined him for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, it\u2019s frustrating,\u201d Whisenhunt said. \u201cTipping pitches is my fault, but at the same time, a lot of other teams knew that I was throwing it and still had trouble hitting it. It\u2019s a confidence booster for me, but at the same time, if I could have gone out there and not been tipping pitches, it might\u2019ve been a whole different outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe obviously don\u2019t know that \u2014 it could\u2019ve gone either way. I had success, I had failure, so I\u2019m looking at it as, \u2018What can I do better during spring training to push me to get back up there?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Lighting up the scoreboard will certainly help Whisenhunt\u2019s pursuit of getting back to the majors.<\/p>\n
Santos hits triple digits in sim game<\/p>\n
Whisenhunt wasn\u2019t the only pitcher chucking heat on Thursday. Right-hander Gregory Santos not only retired all four batters that he faced but also touched 100 mph during his at-bat against Tyler Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good arm,\u201d Whisenhunt said. \u201cThen, you play the four-seam off of that, the two-seam that he\u2019s got and he\u2019s got the power slider as well. Tough for a hitter in that aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Santos, 26, made his debut with the Giants in 2021 and is back in camp as a non-roster invitee. The right-hander pitched well for the Chicago White Sox in \u201823, posting a 3.39 ERA and 2.65 FIP over 66 1\/3 innings, but injuries have limited him to 16 appearances over the last two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCOTTSDALE, Arizona \u2014 Carson Whisenhunt wasn\u2019t expecting to see a number that high. During the first inning of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2135,184,7,23726,402,181,1334,395,101,396,4820,103,102,104,106,105,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-185537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-giants-hq","12":"tag-inside-sports","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-peninsula","16":"tag-san-francisco","17":"tag-san-francisco-county","18":"tag-san-francisco-giants","19":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","20":"tag-san-francisco-news","21":"tag-sf","22":"tag-sf-headlines","23":"tag-sf-news","24":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}