Longtime prospect predicts breakout after role shift

This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart's Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Forrest Whitley was drafted by the Astros before they won their first World Series in 2017 and before they reeled off a streak of seven consecutive trips to the American League Championship Series -- a streak which Houston will carry into the 2024 season.

Whitley doesn’t have to be reminded of his long and winding road, joking on Friday that he might have the most time on a 40-man roster without reaching the big leagues. He hopes to change that this season while competing for a new role in the Astros’ bullpen.

“I’m just really grateful the Astros have given me a mile-long leash with this thing,” Whitley said. “Any opportunity I have is really, really fortunate and awesome for me and I’m very, very thankful.”

Whitley, the 6-foot-7-inch right-hander who was Houston’s first-round pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, has thrown only 267 innings in his Minor League career thanks to a suspension, the pandemic and a series of injuries, including Tommy John surgery two years ago and a lat injury last season.

Astros general manager Dana Brown said last month the club was converting Whitley to reliever. He’ll be among a bevy of arms competing for a bullpen spot this spring. The Astros have lost four relief pitchers from last season -- Hector Neris, Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek are free agents, and Kendall Graveman had shoulder surgery earlier this month.

On Friday, Houston reached a deal to sign All-Star closer Josh Hader, according to a source.

“There wasn’t a ton of prior conversation to me moving to the bullpen,” Whitley said. “However, I kind of saw the writing on the wall with just how scarce the health has been the last three seasons. I don’t want to shut off having the opportunity to be a starter with this organization, but at this point I’ll do anything that the team needs, anything to get on the 26-man roster.”

Whitley, 26, spent the winter working out in Phoenix and said he’s completely healthy, calling the lat injury that cost him most of last season “nasty.” He’s dedicated the last several months to get that right and threw a bullpen on Friday at Minute Maid Park.

“I threw crisp and clean and it felt good to throw off some dirt,” he said. “I’ve been throwing indoors [in the Phoenix area] the whole offseason, so that was nice.”

Whitley said the TrackMan data collected Friday provided promising information about his arsenal.

“Everything looked really good,” he said. “[Pitch] shapes were good. I threw a slider with almost 25 inches of horizontal break [Friday]. I don’t know how accurate that is, but it was good to see. Yeah, stuff’s right back to where it was. Got up to 98 [mph] in November, so velocity is still there and I’m bouncing back health-wise and not getting too sore.”

Whitely has been asking some of his teammates about how to adjust to pitching in relief as opposed to starting. He said the biggest thing will be slowing things down and not trying to overthrow, which will be a challenge when pitching only one inning.

“When I come in there for three outs, I’m going to want to blow it up and show some good stuff and get guys out that way,” Whitley said. “In the past on days like that, I’ve felt like I’ve gotten a little shaky and command has been a little bad because I’m moving too fast, but just trying to find a way to manage that and watching guys like [Ryan] Pressly and [Bryan] Abreu, a guy I played with a little bit, watching their routines.”

Whitley knows there’s some skepticism surrounding his future from those who have heard him say he’s ready to take the next step a few times before. But a move to the bullpen, more experience and maturity -- he was married in December -- have him thinking 2024 will see a breakthrough.

“I’ve gone through so much the last three years,” he said. I feel like I’ve attained so much knowledge on the pitching side -- how to manage the game when you’re not in it, routines to stay healthy and all those things. I think having the experience that I’ve had is going make my big league experience initially a little bit easier. I think this is probably going to be my year.”