Houston Astros: Why Forrest Whitley won’t get promoted this year
By Kyle Cardoza
The Houston Astros have one of the best pitching prospects in the league in Forrest Whitley. But it will be difficult to promote him because of the team’s current situation.
While the Houston Astros focus on fending off the Athletics and Mariners, players in the organization’s farm system are looking forward to next month. Several of them understand that they may get promoted to the big-league team once the roster expands.
But one of them probably won’t be top pitching prospect Forrest Whitley.
The former first-round draft pick has been absent from news headlines essentially since Spring Training. When fans’ attention gravitated toward Whitley, it was amidst his suspension for violating the league’s drug policy.
And Whitley did his time – meaning served his 50-game suspension. Nevertheless, even when Houston already seemed poised to earn a playoff berth, few mentioned him as a option for a fall call-up.
Now with the Astros just one game ahead of the Athletics in the American League West, little attention is being paid to minor-leaguers. However, Houston called up a few Triple-A guys to replace those on the disabled list.
Yet, once the calendar turns to September, promotions are imminent. And some guys, such as Josh James and Myles Straw, thoroughly deserve to be in the majors as reinforcements.
Whitley may merit a Houston jersey, but it doesn’t seem likely considering the team’s current situation. Moreover, the Astros acquired multiple bullpen assets to help them down the stretch.
However, fans could argue that Whitley should be a future piece in the rotation, hence he needs experience. But there are several other options the club is willing to exhaust before
Even with Lance McCullers on the shelf, Houston has yet to name a fill-in for his next start, which is Aug. 21. Manager A.J. Hinch could potentially use multiple relievers to improvise instead.
Before his suspension, Whitley seemed likely to join the Astros by this time, based primarily on his dominance in A-ball. Yet, the scenario has changed considerably, and there’s no explicit reason to bring him up at this time.
And that’s why he will likely stay off the MLB roster until next year.