Houston Astros' Converted Reliever Previews His Approach in New Role

By now, many across the Houston Astros organization probably thought that their first round pick in the 2016 MLB Draft would be a household name by now.

After all, Forrest Whitley was one of the top prospects in their farm system that was littered with Major League talent.

However, the right-hander is yet to make his MLB debut due to a myriad of different reasons.

There's no doubting the talent that Whitley has. During his first full season of professional baseball, he recorded a 2.83 ERA across his 23 appearances and 18 starts. That included 143 strikeouts over 92 1/3 innings pitched.

But, in 2018 he was suspended for 50 games after violating MLB's drug prevention and treatment program.

Since then, his career has not quite gone as planned.

He posted an ERA of 7.99 in 2019, wasn't able to compete in 2020 because the minor league season was canceled due to COVID-19, and then underwent Tommy John surgery that kept him out for the entirety of 2021.

Whitley has ERAs of 6.53 and 5.70 the past two years, struggling to adjust to the higher levels of competition.

Despite that, it seems like the former top prospect is ready to make his long-awaited Major League debut this season, and in a different role than before.

General manager Dana Brown announced the organization was converting him from a starting pitcher to a reliever, giving him a clear path to being a contributor for the Astros.

Whitley is confident he can make the transition effectively and even gave some insight into how he will approach his new role.

"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," he told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

He has the stuff to do it.

However, he also noted he's had issues with command in years past so will lean on the veterans in their relief staff to pick up things from their routines that will help him become more consistent.

Whitley will have to compete for a spot in Spring Training to make sure he makes his MLB debut during the 2024 season, but if he continues to develop, then the righty could be a major contributor for the first time in his career.