The Chicken Farmer: How Blake Wehunt’s Farm-Raised Grit Shaped a Red Sox Pitching Prospect
Early mornings, hard labor, and a farm upbringing that shaped a Red Sox pitching prospect.
About 60 miles from the home of the Boston Red Sox Low-A affiliate in Greenville, South Carolina, is a small town in the Northeast corner of Georgia named Carnesville. The town rests in Franklin County and consists of a population of roughly 700 people, including Red Sox minor leaguer Blake Wehunt.
Around 15 years ago, the lanky 6-foot-7 right-hander and his father, Keith Wehunt, made the trek from Georgia to Flour Field for an end-of-season celebration with Blake’s little league team. In time, Keith returned to those same stands with the opportunity to watch his son take the mound as a professional athlete.
The Georgia native crafted a highly regarded high school career as a four-year letter winner after recording 313 strikeouts in 163.1 innings pitched for Franklin County High. He spent three years competing at Southern Mississippi before transferring to Kennesaw State and locking in the Friday night starting spot in the Owls rotation.
In 2023, Boston selected Blake in the ninth round of the MLB draft. He quickly worked his way up the Red Sox minor league system after finishing his first full pro season at the Double-A level with the Portland Sea Dogs in 2024.
Currently, Blake holds a spot in the Red Sox Top 30 prospect rankings, finishing at No. 22 after his 2025 campaign.
However, his time in professional baseball has also led Blake to embody his nickname “Chicken Farmer.”
The nickname was first publicized by the Greenville Drive, when social media posts began to reference it.
“I guess me growing up on a farm caught on through the organization and I thought it was cool and decided to embrace it, “ Blake said. “My dad absolutely loved it and knew I got the nickname because of him.”
Back home in Carnesville, Keith Wehunt maintains two 100,000 square foot chicken houses on about 70 acres of land. His day starts before the sun rises, feeding the chickens and making sure they lay quality eggs that are then taken by truck twice a week to different locations. The cycle finishes when the eggs hatch into chickens whose meat is used for produce.
Many are surprised to find out Keith did not grow up on a farm or have a significant amount of experience before starting Wehunt Farms from scratch.
“I worked the swing shift at a plant for 15 years and was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes,” Keith said. “Since my blood sugar was hard to maintain, I knew I needed to do something else and thought that a farm was a great idea.”
Blake was in elementary school when his dad built everything and started production. Once the farm came to life, he began to help with various chores that included feeding the chickens, picking up the eggs, and cutting the weeds around the chicken houses.
“My dad would be out working at five in the morning and I would follow him and go out around eight in the morning to help,” Blake said. “I helped year round whether it was summer break, winter break, before school or when I got out of school early.”
Preserving the farm takes discipline and grit. There are no off days. The work begins when the sun rises, regardless of the day of the week or weather forecast.
Though Blake is not living at home during baseball season to help on the farm as consistently, he took the example set by his father with him to use throughout his career.
“Working on the farm taught me lessons about responsibility and discipline, he showed me how hard work pays off,” Blake said. “I even have the nickname ‘Chicken Farmer’ etched in the side of my glove to remind me of where I come from.”
Individuals in the Red Sox organization have noticed these qualities through Blake’s work ethic.
One pitching coach in particular, Juan Rivera, has worked with Blake on his craft since he was drafted. Rivera is currently on the coaching staff for the Portland Sea Dogs and sees how these skills have benefitted Blake through the ups and downs of the minor league season.
“Right away I thought he was an egoless, hard worker that empties the tank whenever he goes out and competes,” Rivera said. “I know I never have to worry about him because he is going to do what needs to get done without having to be asked.”
Aside from the wording stitched into his glove, the ‘Chicken Farmer’ nickname is present in the clubhouse through merchandise sported by Blake’s teammates. The merchandise mainly consists of t-shirts that have a chicken with thumbs up on it that says “Wehunt Farms” on the back, as well as hats.
The idea for merchandise started long before Blake became a professional baseball player. Originally only worn by family and close friends, his college teammates asked for shirts of their own after laying their eyes on one.
“It really started because we needed a logo to put on a dump truck that Blake’s brother drove, but ended up being something we gave to his teammates too,” Keith said. “I love knowing those guys like Payton Tolle, Connelly Early and David Sandlin wearing their merch to support, it is the coolest thing.”
Since farming is incredibly time consuming and Keith manages everything himself, he unfortunately has not been able to attend hardly any of Blake’s minor league games. Greenville is the closest Red Sox affiliate to their small town in Georgia.
However he always keeps up with the games on MiLB TV and speaks with his son over the phone frequently.
“Getting to watch Blake pitch for Greenville and sit in just about the same spot as I was when I took him when he was little was so cool and such a good memory,” Keith said. “He calls home all the time and we talk just about every other day when he’s not in Georgia.”
Keith made it clear that when Blake gets called up to the Majors, he will without a doubt be there in person to support him.
“I have someone ready to go that I can call for when I need to be away from the farm when Blake has that special moment,” Keith said.”I told him when he makes it, that is when we can decide what we want to do with the farm in the future.”