For a while, the San Francisco Giants seemed to have uncanny good fortune with pitcher health, at least in regards to major surgeries. Sadly, that string of luck has come to an end.
Roughly a year after Randy Rodríguez underwent Tommy John surgery, half a year after Hayden Birdsong did the same, and a month after Trevor McDonald made it three young pitchers, Carson Whisenhunt is, it seems, making it a quartet.
Whisenhunt was pitching very well on Monday, but left the game in the third inning with elbow soreness. That’s never a good thing, and far too often results in a UCL tear. And that’s exactly what it was. On Tuesday, the Giants announced that Whisenhunt’s MRI showed a tear in his UCL, and that surgery was recommended. It’s possible that Whisenhunt will seek a second opinion, but this is one of those situations where all roads lead to Tommy John surgery.
Tommy John would not just end Whisenhunt’s season, but almost certainly wipe out all of 2027 as well. The timeline should set him up to be fully healthy for the start of 2028 Spring Training.
Needless to say, it’s a brutal blow for Whisenhunt, who was in the process of trying to earn a job in the rotation next year. Even though he wasn’t pitching particularly well this year, he figured to be a big part of next year’s team, either as part of the starting rotation, depth for the rotation, or in the bullpen. Now the southpaw will have to wait a while to earn one of those roles.
In addition to Whisenhunt, Willy Adames — who was placed on the 10-Day Injured List on Monday — has a partially-torn UCL in his left (non-throwing) elbow, which, needless to say, isn’t good. Adames is headed for a second opinion, so we’ll have to wait a few days to see what happens with him. It’s worth noting that hitters can come back from Tommy John far more quickly than pitchers (as Shohei Ohtani has shown us), so even the worst case scenario for Adames isn’t horrible. But I would guess that, at the very least, his 2027 is over.
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