River Cats’ Whisenhunt carves way to PCL Pitcher of the Week honor

Release courtesy of the Sacramento River Cats

Sacramento River Cats left-hander Carson Whisenhunt shut down the Salt Lake Bees in his only appearance last week, matching his season best in strikeouts with nine over six clean frames to be named the PCL Pitcher of the Week for April 15-20.

The East Carolina product was in a groove from the very start on Saturday night, retiring nine of the first 10 batters he faced. Only one hit was allowed by Whisenhunt, a leadoff double in the fourth inning that was stranded at second base. Only those two base runners reached against the left-hander, facing two over the minimum and ending with his second quality start of the season.

Those nine punchouts matched his season high which he did in his debut at Sutter Health Park against the Albuquerque Isotopes on March 30, and they are one shy of his Triple-A career best of 10 that he did twice in 2024. Of the nine strikeouts, five came with his 70-grade changeup which is ranked the best in the Minor Leagues by MLB Pipeline, giving him a total of 16 strikeouts with the off-speed pitch this season.

Carson Whisenhunt’s latest Triple-A @RiverCats gem 💎

6 IP
1 H
0 R
1 BB
9 K

The @SFGiants‘ top-ranked pitching prospect utilized his 70-grade changeup to notch 5 of those punchouts: pic.twitter.com/NUcrUbNKAh

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 20, 2025

This is the first Triple-A weekly honor in Whisenhunt’s career, though he was once named the NWL Pitcher of the Month for May 2023. However, this marks the second PCL Pitcher of the Week award for a Sacramento River Cats player in 2025, as he joins a fellow Carson in right-hander Carson Seymour who earned the honor on April 7, 2025.

Overall, this is the third weekly recognition of the season for Sacramento, as Brett Auerbach was named the PCL Player of the Week in the opening weekend of the year from March 28-30.

The Sacramento River Cats are now just one shy of the four weekly honors they earned in 2024 when Mason Black (4/15/24) and Tommy Romero (6/10/24) were PCL Pitchers of the Week while Tyler Fitzgerald (5/27/24) and Luis Matos (6/17/24) were PCL Players of the Week.

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