2. Forrest Whitley, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 9/15/1997 (20)
2017 teams/levels played for: low-A Quad Cities River Bandits, high-A Buies Creek Astros, AA Corpus Cristi Hooks
2017 Stats:
Info: A guy who had mixed reviews coming into the 2016 draft depending on when scouts saw him. Whitley stands 6’7″, and he went from a reported 250ish pounds down to 220ish by draft time, and he kept working on his conditioning post-draft, listed under 200 coming into this season, though he looked like he did fill into his frame with “good weight” as the season went on.
Whitley had elite stuff the summer before draft, but he had conditioning issues that made keeping it up for very long an issue. The improved conditioning led to some inconsistencies in his stuff throughout his final high school season.
As a pro, his stuff has not only been consistent, but it’s been incredibly high quality. Whitley offers all of his stuff from a high 3/4 arm slot, which pairs with his height to give him extreme plane on his fastball, which already has excellent velocity, sitting 92-94, touching 97.
Whitley saw the command and control of all of his pitches tick up to a plus level in 2017, which allowed his mid-80s slider and upper-70s curve to play up. His change was not as consistent as his first three pitches, but it flashed plus level at times with late movement low in the zone, especially making it brutal on lefty hitters.
Whitley isn’t satisfied with a plus fastball, potential plus change, and two above-average breakers with excellent control. He worked on a cutter that he threw out in game, and I had a report from two scouts that he was throwing a split-change variation in bullpens that never made it into a game.
With the command/control that he exhibited in 2017 and ability to learn new pitches with feel seemingly immediate, Whitley has a chance to be the best pitcher currently in the minor leagues. He tossed 14 2/3 regular season innings at AA in 2017, so it would make sense for him to open the season at that level, but it would not surprise if he ended up in AAA by the end of the season with a chance to challenge for a rotation spot in 2019.
1. Kyle Tucker, OF
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 1/17/1997 (21)
2017 teams/levels played for: high-A Buies Creek Astros, AA Corpus Cristi Hooks
2017 Stats: .274/.346/.528, 523 PA, 25 HR, 21 SB, 46/109 BB/K
Info: Tucker was highly regarded coming out of high school, but the Houston Astros picked him ahead of where he was projected in a way to land the trio of Tucker, Alex Bregman, and Daz Cameron all with 3 picks in the first 37 selections of the draft.
Tucker has shown impressive maturity in his game throughout his professional development. His brother, Preston Tucker, paving the path ahead of him likely helped in his preparation for the pro game, but he has handled many of the challenges of the game well, and he’s shown excellent maturity at the plate as well.
Tucker adjusted his swing a bit this season to access more of his natural strength in his swing
Tucker adjusted his swing a bit this season to access more of his natural strength in his swing, and that led to a bit of cost to his contact rate, but he certainly accessed his power and was able to still utilize his impressive overall athleticism. Really, what the swing adjustment did was add power to an incredible overall package.
Tucker did struggle some in the Arizona Fall League, and that’s seemingly bumped a number of people off of him, even though he had an impressive overall year. While he’s a fringe center fielder, Tucker in a corner would be one of the best athletes in a corner, allowing him to feasibly work as a plus defender down the road in a corner, even though his arm is average.
Baseball America reported in their review of the top 10 prospects in Houston’s system that Tucker had received some descriptions of “low-energy” due to his even approach to the game. I’ve heard similar reports, though in reality, many have reported it’s more of a lack of panic than it is a lack of passion, and sometimes there can be a fine line between the two.
Tucker could open in AA again in 2018, but he feasibly will see a September call up this season, and he should be ready to compete for a big league job in 2019.
Next: Newcomers to watch