Forrest Whitley: Dare to Dream

With no options remaining, it’s now or never for Whitley

With the 17th overall pick in t he 2016 draft, the Houston Astros selected monstrous 6’7 right handed high school Starting Pitcher – Forrest Whitley.

He then went on to immediately dominate all the way through AA, looking like he was major leady ready just out of high school. Peaking as the #5 Prospect for Baseball America, #7 for MLB and Baseball Prospectus continuing to drive the narrative of a true ace in the making.

To say Whitley has had a bumpy road on his path to the majors is a major understatement. Once one of the most highly valued prospects in the game, drug suspension, injuries and inconsistency has lead many to write-off Whitley as a flop.

Now, nearly a decade later, we could see Whitley earn his chance to live up to the hype, with the potential to be a key contributor the Astros bullpen.

Whitley has very minimal experience in the majors, so the underlying metrics of his pitches aren’t able to be truly judged, but the velocity still shows to be there with his 97.1 mph average on his 4-seamer ranking in the 90th percentile in the league.

Having a 6 pitch arsenal lead by the Fastball/Curveball and the ability to throw a solid change-up, sinker, and cutter pitches should provide an arsenal vs both right and left handed batters.

At 27 years old, Whitley is still younger than many people think based on the journey to this point, so there is still reason for optimism. The true question will be if Whitley can stay healthy for the full-season and reinforce a bullpen weakened by the loss of Ryan Pressly.

Steamer currently projects Whitley to throw 59 IP of 3.78 ERA. Which is not elite, but shouldn’t draw any ire as a replacement for the 56.2 IP of 3.49 ERA baseball that Pressly tossed last year.

For Whitley, with no options remaining, it will be a make or break season for him with the Astros and it seems Espada sees Whitley in a multi-inning reliever role.

“It would be nice if I could get him out there for four or five outs, if necessary, six outs,” Espada said. “I love the stuff and he’s been a starter in the past. I don’t want to take that strength away from him. If he can go out there and give us two-plus innings, that’s our goal.”

What are your expectations for the 27 year old? Do you foresee him becoming a critical piece within the bullpen?