Bump on road back
Whitley returns to AAA level after three years but is hit hard in first game
SUGAR LAND — Forrest Whitley makes progress every time he steps on the mound, but the results just weren’t quite there for the Astros’ former first-round draft pick Monday night.
Whitley, pitching for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, was roughed up early against the El Paso Chihuahuas, surrendering five hits and six earned runs over 22⁄3 innings in front of a record Fourth of July crowd at Constellation Field during his first Class AAA appearance since 2019.
Whitley, once regarded as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, has been recovering from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in March 2021. He also missed the entire pandemic-shortened 2020 season after initially being added to the Astros’ 40-man roster. The 17th overall pick by the Astros in the 2016 MLB draft out of Alamo Heights High School suffered a forearm strain during the preseason summer camp that year.
Whitley was pulled from Monday’s game after throwing 67 pitches, 43 of which went for strikes. He faced 18 batters altogether, walked two and hit another.
“Obviously a pretty rough one,” Whitley said. “Could have limited the base on balls, was having trouble finding the fastball. But (I) kind of know with this TJ process, not everything is going to be perfect.
I thought I made good pitches, but in the
times I needed them the most, just kind of left them over the plate.”
The 6-7 Whitley recently made two rehab starts with Low-a Fayetteville and allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings before joining the Space Cowboys’ active roster.
His first rehab appearance came on June 16 with the Florida Complex League Astros. It marked his first action in a professional game since Sept. 2, 2019.
“It’s hard to say that I am trying to be at any particular place,” Whitley said. “I’m just kind of taking it a day at a time and continuing to get my work in. I’m really
glad with how I feel. That was the most