SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants have sent their top pitching prospect back to Triple-A Sacramento after a couple of poor starts.
Left-handed pitcher Carson Whisenhunt gave up three solo home runs in his last outing against the Nationals, a 4-2 defeat on Saturday that handed the 24-year-old his first loss.
With Landen Roupp expected to come off the injured list Friday, and Kai-Wei Teng having pitched a gem in his last game, San Francisco manager Bob Melvin said it was a logical decision.
“Roupp will throw a bullpen tomorrow, and pitch on Friday,” Melvin said before Tuesday night’s game against the Padres. Roupp has been out since July 25 with right elbow inflammation.
The Giants, who entered Tuesday with a 59-60 record, called up Tyler Fitzgerald before the second game of the pivotal three-game series. Fitzgerald was the Opening Day second baseman in San Francisco, but started in right field for Sacramento on Monday.
Fitzgerald is getting his first shot at defending in front of Oracle’s difficult right field wall on Tuesday night.
“Maybe it’s going to be a challenge, and I know that coming in there could be some mistakes,” said Fitzgerald. “But I’m not going to get worried about it. I’m not going to come in here scared. I’m just gonna give it my 100%, and good or bad, whatever happens, I can try to live with that.”
Fitzgerald has played a few games in center field and a handful of other ones in left with the Giants in addition to all over the infield.
The right-handed batter gave the left-handed Drew Gilbert — the former Mets prospect also recently promoted to San Francisco — the night off against San Diego’s lefty starter Nestor Cortes.
Fitzgerald said he feels much healthier than he did early in the season, when he was dealing with a back injury.
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“Getting healthy and getting my confidence back,” Fitzgerald said when asked what he focused on in Sacramento, calling his return to Sacramento a “fresh start.”
In 32 games in Triple-A, Fitzgerald batted .260 with a .336 OBP with two home runs and 15 RBI. He put up a .227 average in 63 games in San Francisco.
Whisenhunt, 24, yielded the three homers in his most recent start, but the 2022 first-round draft pick also struck out five and induced 19 swings-and-misses, including 11 with his signature changeup.
“I didn’t have my best stuff,” said Whisenhunt, who accumulated a 5.02 ERA in three starts. “The home runs, I left them pretty much middle of the plate.”
Melvin and the Giants have already pinpointed an area for him to improve upon: locating his fastball.
“Everybody knows about his changeup,” Melvin said. “Nowadays there’s so much information, whether it’s attacking a hitter or a pitcher and knowing what his strengths are, and he found that out pretty quickly.”
