HOUSTON — Mondays are universal days off in the minor leagues, which means Forrest Whitley could be crashing on his couch. He was half asleep before his phone started ringing.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Triple-A manager Mickey Storey told him, “but you’re going to the show.”
Whitley’s wait is over. The Astros promoted their former top prospect to the major league roster on Tuesday, completing a tortuous journey for a man once considered Houston’s next hometown ace.
“This is the first time in my life where I really feel this surreal moment where I had a hard time discerning real life and what was really happening,” Whitley said. “It’s a pretty crazy moment.”
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The Astros selected Whitley 17th overall in the 2016 draft, signed him for a $3.148 million bonus and watched him rise to the top of nearly every outside publication’s prospect rankings. At Whitley’s peak, Baseball America ranked him the fifth-best prospect in the sport.
Injuries, ineffectiveness and a 50-game drug suspension before the 2018 season derailed Whitley’s career while dimming his prospect pipeline. Athleticism‘s Keith Law didn’t even rank him among the Astros’ top 20 preseason prospects, a list that included nine other pitchers.
If and when Forrest Whitley makes his major league debut, he will be the 22nd pitcher used by the Astros this season. That’s the league’s most through 18 games. For reference, the Astros used 24 total pitchers last season.
– Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) April 16, 2024
Now, Whitley will provide a new arm to a bullpen that desperately needs one. Whitley’s promotion is purely circumstantial: None of Houston’s other relievers on the 40-man roster were drafted long enough to be called up without putting someone on the injured list. He is a leading candidate to return to the minor leagues this weekend when Justin Verlander is activated, meaning Whitley could only be a major league player for two days.
While Whitley is here, manager Joe Espada said he could provide up to two innings for his otherwise depleted bullpen. This winter, after receiving an optional fourth year in the minor leagues, Whitley converted to a reliever in hopes of helping the major league team in any way he could.
Whitley made only three relief appearances in Triple-A Sugar Land, allowing three homers and four earned runs in three innings.
“I kind of underestimated the difference between being a starter and a reliever — they’re two completely different processes even though it’s the same game,” Whitley said. “I feel like I’m settling in now, but I feel like the adrenaline there is really going to carry me away every time I go in there.”
Although slowed by a middle finger injury to start the season, Whitley touched 99 mph with his sinker in three relief appearances for Triple-A Sugar Land.
Whitley underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021 and suffered a side strain that limited him to 30 Triple-A innings last season. From 2019 to 2023, Whitley has allowed 101 earned runs in 129 2/3 innings of affiliated baseball.
Still, Whitley seemed aware of Houston’s endless roster turnover and acknowledged the feeling that his promotion “was on the horizon.” If Whitley pitches one of the next two games against the Atlanta Braves, he will be the 22nd pitcher used by the Astros this season. No team deployed more.
“I’ve been in this situation for four years, so I’ve been trying to find ways to alleviate the mental hoops that I can go through when a moment like this happens with the team,” Whitley said. “I was trying to do my best to stay where my feet were and stay sane. I felt like I was doing a good job, so I think that’s why I got a little more out of it than I expected.
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(Photo: Rich Story / USA Today)