Former Houston Astros top prospect begins journey to the majors again

It’s difficult to make it to Major League Baseball no matter how highly touted a player is, something one of the Houston Astros’ former top prospects knows all about.

After being selected 17th overall in the 2016 draft, Forrest Whitley was ranked No. 1 in the Astros’ pipeline for four straight years, from 2018-2021.

Considered the starter of their future, things continued to arise at every turn that prevented him from progressing quickly within their farm system, as he was suspended 50 games for violating the drug prevention and treatment program of the MLB in 2018 and underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021.

Whitley looked like he would live up to the hype early in his career, but after season-ending surgery he struggled with a 6.53 ERA and 5.70 after his return.

Before this season, there was some speculation that the 26-year-old would be a fixture in the bullpen after switching roles in an effort to get to and stay in the Majors. Unfortunately, his plans were derailed when he was unable to throw during spring training due to injury.

It was another example of a setback in his journey.

The good news for Whitley is that he was able to make his long-awaited Major League debut earlier this season.

The bad news is that it only lasted one match as he was sent back to Triple-A two days after his very first outing on The Show.

In the minors, he was placed on the injured list due to an elbow injury on April 26 that kept him off the field until now, when he was officially sent on a rehab assignment to their Florida Complex League.

He’s been sidelined for a while, so it will likely take him a long time to rehabilitate and be sent to their Triple-A affiliate.

It is unclear whether or not Whitley can be considered for the Major League roster.

History suggests another problem will arise for the former top prospect that will derail his chances of playing in the MLB. Let’s hope that’s not the case, as Houston continues to deal with injuries to its big league pitchers.

There’s a good chance that if he can get healthy quickly, he’ll have a real opportunity to return to the Show.