It appears the Giants got great value with their second pick of the 2022 MLB Draft.
With the 66th overall pick and final of the second round, San Francisco selected left-handed pitcher Carson Whisenhunt, who entered “2022 as the best healthy college left-hander available,” per MLB.com, which ranks him as the 30th overall prospect in this year’s draft.
What’s the catch? Whisenhunt was suspended for the entirety of last season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug he claimed came from a supplement purchased at a nutrition store.
He’s also just logged one full college season. But in that season, he posted a 3.77 ERA over 62 innings, striking out 79 of the 255 batters he faced. He had an 11.5 strikeout/9 innings rate and a 3.59 strikeout/walk rate.
His superpower, per MLB.com’s evaluation, is a gnarly changeup.
“Whisenhunt has one of the best changeups in his Draft, an 82-85 mph weapon that drops at the plate and generated a 59 percent swing-and-miss rate in 2021. He sets it up with a 91-95 mph fastball with the same arm speed, though his heater features more downhill plane than life and gets hit if he doesn’t locate it well. While scouts rate his upper-70s curveball as average at best and he doesn’t use it very much, it dodges more than its share of bats. “
The lefty projects as a “mid-rotation starter with a high floor,” and will likely join the Giants’ ranks as their second-highest-ranked left hander in the system, behind Kyle Harrison.
