July 27, 2025 9:22 AM : Triple-A Sacramento scratched Whisenhunt from his scheduled start Saturday, perhaps hinting that the Giants could call him up to pitch Monday or Tuesday against the Pirates, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Analysis: In the wake of Hayden Birdsong getting demoted to Triple-A and Landen Roupp (elbow) landing on the injured list, the Giants have two openings in the rotation. The Giants will go with a bullpen day in Sunday's series finale versus the Mets, but the team will need to break in a bulk reliever or spot starter Monday or Tuesday, while Justin Verlander presumably takes the hill for one of the two contests. The decision to have Whisenhunt skip his start with Sacramento this weekend is a good indication that the 24-year-old lefty will soon be called upon to make his MLB debut. Though he owns an unremarkable 4.42 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in 97.2 innings at Triple-A this season, Whisenhunt has done well to scale back the free passes, with his walk rate dropping from 11.1 percent with Sacramento in 2024 to 6.8 percent in 2025. If he is in fact called up this week, Whisenhunt could have a chance to stick around with the big club for multiple turns through the rotation.