Giants send Carson Whisenhunt back to Triple-A after strong spot start: Hes got the ability

ATLANTA — Here, a new number for all the statheads out there: innings pitched per hour of sleep.In Carson Whisenhunt’s case, the ratio on Wednesday was something like 5:2.Even counting the short nap after his crack-of-dawn flight to make it on time for his spot start, Whisenhunt barely cracked four hours of shuteye.He didn’t look bleary-eyed in his first major-league start of the season, keeping the Braves off the scoreboard for five innings and finishing with two earned runs over five-plus.His reward: one full night’s sleep in the posh team hotel before boarding another flight back to rough it in Triple-A.

Whisenhunt, the 27th man for the second game of the Giants’ doubleheader against the Braves, was sent back out after the 7-5 win. But he showed enough to convince manager Tony Vitello he’ll be back.“He’s got the ability to be at this level,” Vitello said.“It wasn’t just about what he did today.

You see the incline of improvement.He’ll have more days like this.”For now, though, the Giants will continue to roll with Adrian Houser, Landen Roupp and Trevor McDonald behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray.

Tyler Mahle is also on a rehab assignment, though he was shaky in his first outing Tuesday, walking five in three innings.There should be more opportunities following the Aug.3 trade deadline.Ray, on the last year of his contract, is one of the likeliest candidates to be dealt if the Giants maintain their posture as sellers.

Mahle, with a few strong starts under his belt, could also give a contender a low-cost option to boost their pitching depth.The Giants aren’t exactly swimming in major-league arms themselves, but without much hope of making the playoffs, trading from the relative position of weakness would at least give them a chance to see if they can count on any of their internal options heading into next season.Whisenhunt, as Vitello declared two weeks ago, would be the “next man up.”“I just meant he’s doing well enough to g...