2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 9

The eighth chapter of the 2022 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List is complete, and it brought us our first member of the most recent MLB draft class: left-handed pitcher Carson Whisenhunt, who has been voted as the No. 8 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization.

Funnily enough, it’s the third-straight year where the first member of a new draft class has appeared at No. 8. Last year, 2021 first-round pick Will Bednar made his CPL debut at No. 8, and the year before it was 2020 first-round pick Patrick Bailey being voted as the eighth-best prospect. Here’s hoping that things move forward more gracefully for Whisenhunt.

Despite being the first player from the 2022 draft class on this year’s CPL, Whisenhunt was not a first-round pick. He was a second-rounder, whose draft stock took a large hit because he missed last year’s college baseball season following a PED suspension.

But there’s a lot of talent in his arm, and Whisenhunt — who turned 22 in October — showed it in limited time during his debut professional season. He struck out seven of the 10 batters he faced in rookie ball, and then seven of the 20 batters he faced in Low-A San Jose. Covid delayed his Arizona Fall League debut, but he struck out 11 of the 28 batters that he faced there. Along the way, he walked just four batters at those three stops.

It will be interesting to see where Whisenhunt, who looks like he could be fast-tracked, starts 2023. I would assume Low-A, but it seems likely that he could be in line for a very early promotion.

Now on we march in our quest to rank 44 prospects.

The list so far

1. Kyle Harrison — LHP
2. Marco Luciano — SS
3. Casey Schmitt — 3B
4. Luis Matos — CF
5. Vaun Brown — OF
6. Grant McCray — CF
7. Aeverson Arteaga — SS
8. Carson Whisenhunt — LHP

Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.

On to No. 9!

No. 9 prospect nominees

Patrick Bailey — 23.7-year old C, 113 wRC+ in High-A (325 PAs)
Mason Black — 23.0-year old RHP, 4.52 FIP in High-A (77.2 IP), 2.66 FIP in Low-A (34.1 IP)
Reggie Crawford — 22.0-year old LHP/DH, 22 wRC+ in ACL (21 PAs), no pitching yet
Jairo Pomares — 22.4-year old OF, 113 wRC+ in High-A (386 PAs)
Heliot Ramos — 23.3-year old OF, -13 wRC+ in MLB (22 PAs), 65 wRC+ in AAA (475 PAs)
Eric Silva — 20.2-year old RHP, 5.05 FIP in Low-A (85.2 IP)

Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page.

Reminder: voting is now in the comments!