SF Giants farm director defends prospect who faced PED suspension

SF Giants 2022 second-round pick Carson Whisenhunt failed a PED test in college, but farm director Kyle Haines told FanGraphs he believes the southpaw's story.

Marc Delucchi | Apr 14, 2023

SF Giants farm director defends prospect who faced PED suspension /

In this story:

San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants selected left-handed pitcher Carson Whisenhunt (Giants #9 prospect) out of East Carolina in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Whisenhunt had been a consensus first-round prospect heading into his final collegiate season but saw his stock fall after he was suspended for his junior season for violating the NCAA's performance-enhancing drugs policy. In an interview with FanGraphs' David Laurila, Giants farm director Kyle Haines defended Whisenhunt, claiming the team is confident in the due diligence they did on the southpaw leading up to the draft.

East Carolina pitcher Carson Whisenhunt, who was drafted by the SF Giants in the 2022 MLB Draft, throws a pitch. — East Carolina lefty Carson Whisenhunt, who was drafted by the SF Giants, throws a pitch. (2021) :: George Walker IV / Tennessean.com via Imagn Content Services, LLC

“It was a tainted supplement, I believe is what he said," Haines told Laurila. "A test came back for a banned substance of some type — I’m not exactly sure the exact substance — but we did a lot of digging on him. I think it was a crushing blow, as well as a surprise to everybody involved. Seeing his physicality, he’s probably the last guy anybody would accuse of trying to cheat; he’s a skinny-rail kid. He’s ready to move on, but he’s also obviously crushed that he missed his junior year with his teammates. I know that East Carolina had a lot of hopes last year with Carson anchoring that staff, and he just wasn’t able to do it.”

Whisenhunt reached Single-A San Jose in his first professional season last year. After dominating the Arizona Fall League this offseason, Whisenhunt is back at San Jose to start this season. Across two appearances so far this season, Whisenhunt has recorded eight strikeouts with just one walk in 5.2 innings pitched with a 3.18 ERA.

Haines spoke highly of Whisenhunt's development with Laurila, crediting the young prospect for improving the lower half of his thin frame. He also said, "He’s looking every bit the part of a first-round quality pick who we got in the second round."

Carson Whisenhunt is one of the best pitching prospects in the SF Giants organization, and given how the organization's farm director is talking about the left-handed starting pitcher publicly, the team is clearly high on his long-term upside.

Published Apr 14, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).