San Francisco Giants pitcher Carson Whisenhunt delivers a pitch against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.
Richard W. Rodriguez/Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Texas — Growing pains might be the theme for the San Francisco Giants the rest of the way as the team sorts through rookies and newcomers to plug holes.
The team would love Carson Whisenhunt to grab one of the open rotation spots and keep it, but the rookie has yet to show he’s the answer, with a handful of good appearances and a few rough ones. Wednesday, in the Giants’ 6-0 loss to the Rangers, Whisenhunt was hit hard his second time through the lineup and made it through just 3⅓ innings.
Whisenhunt, 25, allowed five hits in the Rangers’ four-run third, including two doubles and Justin Foscue’s two-run triple, which like Brandon Nimmo’s RBI single that inning, came on Whisenhunt’s third-best pitch, his still-in-the-works slider.
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“Just a slider backed up into his bat and (Whisenhunt) could have got out of the inning left-on-left there,” manager Tony Vitello said, adding later, “I think just rounding out that arsenal and being equally good to both right-handed hitters, left-handed hitters and being more accurate to his spots. … These guys are so good at this level. If you miss your target, they can make you pay.”
Whisenhunt didn’t throw his sinker, which is in an even more experimental state, at all. “Moving forward, it’s going to be the fourth pitch,” he said. “Eventually, we’ll see kind of where it goes, I’ll ideally find more spots to use it, get more comfortable with it.”
In his six appearances with the Giants, he has a 7.25 ERA and batters are hitting .292 against him, but an effective third pitch would make his doozy of a changeup so much more effective. As it was, he got five swings and misses with the changeup Wednesday and only one of the five hits he allowed came on the pitch.
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San Francisco
Texas
ab
r
h
bi
ab
r
h
bi
Totals
35
0
8
0
Totals
31
6
9
6
Eldridge 1b
5
0
1
0
Langford lf
3
1
1
0
Lee rf
5
0
1
0
Duran 3b
3
0
0
0
Adames ss
3
0
0
0
Nimmo rf
3
2
2
2
Devers dh
4
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2
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Burger 1b
3
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1
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Basabe 2b-3b
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Foscue dh
2
1
1
2
Kennedy 3b
3
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0
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Pederson ph-dh
2
0
1
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Furman ph-2b
0
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0
Díaz c
4
0
1
1
McCray cf
3
0
0
0
Lopez ss
4
0
2
1
Leonard lf
3
0
1
0
Cauley 2b
4
0
0
0
Gilbert ph
1
0
0
0
Carter cf
3
0
0
0
Cavanaugh c
4
0
2
0
San Francisco
000
000
000
—
0
Texas
004
010
01x
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6
DP_San Francisco 1, Texas 0. LOB_San Francisco 11, Texas 6. 2B_Leonard (1), Cavanaugh (1), Langford (14), Díaz (9). 3B_Foscue (1). HR_Nimmo (12).
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1
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1
1
1
0
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0
0
ABS Challenge_Bradford (Ball-Overturned to Strike).
Umpires_Home, Louie Krupa; First, Adam Beck; Second, Dan Iassogna; Third, Adrian Johnson.
T_2:34. A_26,098 (40,000).
Whisenhunt has made 10 career starts and has yet to reach the six-inning mark and it’s wearing on him some. “Absolutely,” he said. “I think I was throwing the ball pretty well in Sac, and it’s just not translating right now. We’ll figure it out at some point, hopefully.”
Carson Seymour was the next pitcher up Wednesday, and he’s something of a conundrum, too. He was a starter until the end of May and then was moved into long relief. But over the past month at Triple-A Sacramento, none of his appearances has been more than 2⅔ innings. That’s precisely how long he lasted against the Rangers, but he was OK.
Carson Seymour #77 of the San Francisco Giants throws a pitch during the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on August 05, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Stacy Revere/Getty Images
He allowed a solo homer to Nimmo and one other hit, walked one and struck out two. He also was throwing his fastball 96-97 mph, and he’s got five pitches: fastball, slider, sinker, cutter, splitter. Could starting be in his future again at some point? Opening?
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The Giants need at least two of their starter callups to take the reins. On Tuesday, Blade Tidwell settled down after allowing two in the first inning, but he, Whisenhunt and Seymour also could be bullpen options at some point. Who’s next at Sacramento? Perhaps Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson, acquired from Cleveland for Patrick Bailey in May; batters are hitting .205 against him in his eight starts with the River Cats and .171 overall against him at four stops this season.
Wilkinson is also one of the hot young players who’d make sense to add any time to the 40-man roster — he’d need to be protected from the Rule-5 draft this winter, anyway. Any prospects who don’t need to be protected, though, would be wise to keep away from the 40-man because those minor leaguers can keep playing during a big league labor stoppage, such as next season’s anticipated lockout.
Wilkinson is coming off his best start to date at Sacramento, seven shutout innings at Tacoma on Sunday. He has 38 strikeouts and just 12 walks in his 32⅔ innings with the River Cats and for the season, 91 strikeouts in 79 innings.
Elsewhere in audition-land, Eddys Leonard recorded his first big-league hit, a double in the second, and he was beaming even before he got to the bag as his family whooped it up in the stands, filming the moment. Leonard, 25, was called up the day before after nine years in the minors, a heartening story especially for a team that got kicked in the teeth when six big leaguers were traded off the roster Sunday and Monday.
“I mean, a dream come true,” Leonard said. “Like a long time ago, I was waiting for that moment and then it happened today.”
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He was concerned his drive would get hauled in by Wyatt Langford, who had a good jump on the ball and nearly ran it down.
“As soon as I hit the ball, I said, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to catch it,’ ” Leonard said. “Then when I saw it go to the fence, I said, ‘OK, thank you, God.’ ”
He spotted his family, who’d flown in from the Dominican Republic, as he reached second and he pointed to them. Leonard is giving the ball to his dad, Eddys, and his mom, Zunilda. His wife, Bidalyn, also was on hand.
Vitello said he and the coaching staff have been impressed with Leonard already, his work ethic especially but also the ringing sound of the bat when he takes batting practice. His double registered 106.7 mph.
“It ended up unfortunately kind of being the highlight of the game,” Vitello said, “but just to see him get rewarded for how long it took him and for how hard he worked to get here, it’s great.”
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The Giants might have an interesting decision to make in the outfield: Victor Bericoto could return from an oblique strain as early as the end of the week.
San Francisco went 0-for-8 with men in scoring position Wednesday and were shutout for the 11th time this season, tied for most in the majors.