RAPID RISE
Former Astros first-round pick Forrest Whitley is moving on up.
SAN ANTONIO — The Astros, like prized top pitching prospect Forrest Whitley, have shown flashes of brilliance this year. § Before the All-Star break, the Astros were considered by some to be baseball’s best team. And early returns on the 19-year-old right-handed phenom hint that he’s a can’tmiss generational player.
Neither the Astros nor Whitley are there yet. Houston, hit with injuries, is sub.500 in its past 30 games. And Whitley, while still impressive, lacks some control.
Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and his brain trust are willing to wait for Whitley to ascend to dominance.
But in a gut-wrenching twist on the best of intentions, the same measured decisionmaking that will make Whitley a star one day may have cost the Astros a shot a World Series title this season.
Whitley came home to San Antonio last week for his first outing in his hometown since helping Alamo Heights High School to the playoffs. The triumphant homecoming at Wolff Stadium, while showing flashes of what made him a No. 1 pick, also showed Whitley has some work to do.
He entered in the fifth inning, with the Missions leading his Corpus Christi Hooks 4-1.
Whitley’s first inning: 35 pitches, two walks, one strikeout, one meeting at the mound. It might have been worse had it not been for Myles Straw’s acrobatic outfield catch to deny the Missions a run.
This wasn’t the Forrest Whitley we were promised.
In three months, the former Alamo Heights star and 2016 Astros first-round draft pick had pitched his way up the ladder in Houston’s farm system. The Hooks are his third team this summer, after stints in High-A Buies Creek and Single-A Quad Cities.
It’s rare for a high school pick to move up that quickly in his first full professional season. “Rare” means the list of guys who’ve done it is short and includes luminaries such such Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.
That comparison isn’t a coincidence.
Whitley has dominated at every level this summer, including an 11-strikeout performance in six innings at Tulsa in his Aug. 17 AA debut.
Whitley’s first inning in San Antonio came with a caveat.
“Coming out of the bullpen is abnormal for me,” he said after the game. “As a starter usually, it’s not about using all of my pitches in the first inning. But when you’re coming out of the bullpen, it’s about using all five of your pitches and going after them with all of them.”
He settled down in his second inning. After walking Luis Urias, a frustrated Whitley walked forward a few steps, pivoted and walked back to the mound, pacing like an expectant parent. He grabbed the rosin bag and dropped it, then dropped his head. Catcher Jamie Ritchie came out to the mound for a quick pep talk, and it must have worked.
Whitley used just 11 pitches to mow down the next three Missions to end the frame and his night.
His Friday performance was a microcosm of his summer.
In 85 2/3 innings this season, Whitley has 132 strikeouts. He’s also walked 33 batters. The result is a surprisingly high 2.73 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.
None of that, however, is a knock on Whitley. He’s young. Everyone in baseball knows he’ll be great.
In the days before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, with Houston desperately in need of a right-handed starter and a left-handed reliever, Whitley was one of the most popular guys on trade boards.
Every proposed deal the Astros pitched was met with some form of the same counter-offer: “Throw in Whitley and (hard-hitting Hooks teammate) Kyle Tucker and we’ll write it up.”
Houston wouldn’t deal either player, nor any of the organization’s prized prospects. This act of omission prompted fans, national baseball writers and even Astros players to question the logic of standing pat.
Luhnow claimed any deal offered would have gutted the team’s farm system for years to come.
That was a great argument during the team’s long, painful rebuild.
But now? Maybe not.