The Houston Astros thought they found the next pitching star in 2016 when they selected Forrest Whitley with the 17th overall pick out of high school.
The talented right-hander jumped into professional baseball immediately, turning down an opportunity to play at Florida State University.
During his first full season, he recorded an ERA of 3.03 with 117 strikeouts over 77 2/3 innings pitched in 19 appearances and 16 starts at the Single-A and High Single-A levels in 2017. This earned him a promotion to Double-A to finish the year.
Whitley's profile exploded after that season, being ranked as the Astros' No. 1 overall prospect, listed ahead of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez in 2018, and the No. 9 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline.
Then, things went downhill for the talented righty.
He was suspended 50 games for violating MLB's drug prevention and treatment program in 2018 which limited him to eight appearances. Whitley struggled in 2019 and then missed the 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
But now, there's a chance that Houston's former first round pick could be the answer to their bullpen problems.
With general manager, Dana Brown, looking for internal candidates to become part of their relief staff, Whitley could use this as an opportunity to get his career back on track, despite only making 14 appearances out of the bullpen during his minor league career.
Some video surfaced about how Whitley looks throwing the baseball and all that talent he previously had looks to be back two years removed from surgery.
So, with the limited finances that are preventing the Astros from signing talented arms in the free agent market, this could be their internal candidate that becomes a difference maker in the relief unit.
Keep an eye on Whitley turning heads during Spring Training.
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