Joe Whitman Perfect Through Six Innings

SF Giants Minor Lines, May 2-4, 2025

Joe Whitman was perfect in his six-inning stint on Saturday, going 18-up and 18-down and striking out 10, leading Richmond to victory. It was a dominating outing for Whitman. The Flying Squirrels were two outs away from the first home team nine-inning no-hitter in the 40+ years at The Diamond in Richmond. But it was not to be, as they ended up with a 1-hitter, and didn’t get the shutout either in a 4-1 win.

Weekend highlights included 10-inning walk-off wins by the River Cats and Flying Squirrels in addition to Whitman’s gem. Mason Black also had a nice outing on Sunday. In not so good news, the San Jose Giants got walked off on Sunday on a two-run bottom of the 9th blast, and Marco Luciano and Diego Velasquez saw hitting streaks and consecutive game on-base streaks go down.

In news from the top, the Giants announced after Sunday’s victory over the Rockies that they had recalled LHP Kyle Harrison from the River Cats. Lou Trivino was designated for assignment to make room for Harrison. Harrison got a late start in spring training due to an illness, and was sent down mostly because he was behind in spring training. The Giants were also looking for him to regain the velocity on his fastball, which had dropped in the second half of last year, and had not returned during spring training. He has been working the velocity up on his 2-seam, averaging 94.4 MPH with a high of 95.6 on April 24, and averaging 95.5 MPH with a high of 97.8 on April 30. The question is what are the Giants’ plans for Harrison, as they already have Hayden Birdsong up there not starting.

HITTER of the WEEKEND: Carter Howell, 6-13, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 Runs
PITCHER of the WEEKEND: Joe Whitman, 6 inn, 0 H, 0 BB, 18 Up, 18 Down, 10 K

Whitman was the obvious choice for the pitcher award, and will be a favorite for Pitcher of the Week to be announced today. I gave the nod the Carter Howell for the hitting award, after also considering Devin Mann, who had a nice weekend in his first week with the River Cats.

Here’s Whitman finishing up his outstanding outing.