The Houston Astros announced injury updates to three players on Monday, two of whom are on the 40-man roster. The team has been dealing with injuries to the starting rotation all season, so any pitching update is important. Both 40-man players are pitchers, but only one of them was positive news.
Former top prospect Forrest Whitley began throwing, and threw a 20 pitch bullpen. Whitley was once the Astros top prospect and was even ranked as high as number seven in the MLB Pipeline Top 100 in 2019. At one point, he looked like he would be the future of Houston's rotation, but has had an up and down minor league career.
He received a 50 game suspension for violating MLB's drug policy in 2018 and underwent Tommy John in 2021. Since his injury, he hasn't posted an ERA under 5.70 in the minors. However, in 2024, he made his Major League debut and threw 0.2 innings before being optioned and being placed on the 7-day IL.
Whitley isn't the prospect he once was, but with all of their injuries, and the latest update on Jose Urquidy, they could use all of the depth they can get.
On the opposite side of things, JP France has yet to begin throwing. France was optioned at the end of April before being placed on the 7-day IL on May 7.
In 2023, France was solid in 23 starts posting a 3.83 ERA in 136.1 innings with 6.7 K/9. The beginning to 2024 did not go as well, as he pitched to a 7.46 ERA in five starts before being optioned. His rookie season was promising, but the struggles left the Astros no choice.
If he can bounce back post-injury, he would likely slide into Houston's rotation once again, depending on if he can get right.
Finally, the Astros received an update on their top prospect, Jacob Melton. Melton was a second round pick in 2022 and is now their number one prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
Melton suffered a wrist injury while playing in Double-A, but wasn't place on the injured list. As of now, he is "a week or so" away from returning. Prior to the injury, Melton had hit five home runs with a .784 OPS. As a college bat coming out of the draft, he has moved quickly through the minors so far. When he gets healthy, that will likely continue. Despite only being at Double-A, he could help out the big league team this year if the lineup continues to struggle.
Houston's lineup has stayed healthy, but aside from a select few players, has struggled. Their rotation has compiled a ton of injuries, and if France and Whitley return sooner rather than later, they could provide valuable depth if they want to stay in the race.
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