Astros To Retain Prospect Despite Injuries

Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown said at the Winter Meetings that the team will get a fourth option year on pitching prospect Forrest Whitley for 2024.

Brown said that Whitley, who at one time was the game's No. 1 prospect, is healthy and throwing and the Astros expect him to be at Spring Training and to work as a reliever.

Injuries have put the Astros in position to get the fourth option year on Whitley, who was their first-round pick in 2016 out Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas.

Last season he pitched for Triple-A Sugar Land and made eight appearances and went 1-2 with a 5.70 ERA. He struck out 32 hitters in 30 innings but was shut down in June after a lat strain.

That was just the latest injury that has derailed Whitley’s progress since the Astros put him on their 40-man roster after the 2020 season.

In Spring Training of 2021, Whitley required Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season.

He didn’t return until June of 2022, when he pitched in the Florida Complex League on a rehab assignment. It was his first professional appearance since September of 2019, as COVID-19 shut down all of minor league baseball in 2020.

The Astros pushed Whitley quickly, promoting him to Single-A Fayetteville and then to Sugar Land as he ended the season with an 0-2 record and a 6.53 ERA. Again, the strikeout rate was solid, with 45 strikeouts in 40 innings.

Before his injuries, Whitley reached the Triple-A level in 2018, where he pitched for the Round Rock Express, which is now a Texas Rangers affiliate.