Former Houston Astros first-round pick Forrest Whitley will be taking his talents overseas.
Whitley, a 2016 MLB Draft pick, faced numerous injuries during his time with the Astros, making his MLB debut on April 16, 2024. After posting a 10.57 ERA over 15 1/3 innings and 13 appearances in two seasons in the majors, including five games with the Tampa Bay Rays in June this year, the right-handed reliever has granted his release to pursue a new chapter playing baseball in Japan.
Whitley was a highly-touted prospect out of Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio when he was a member of the 18-and-under national team that won the World Cup. He had committed to Florida State to play baseball before being drafted 17th overall by the Astros. After working his way up to Double-A in his first professional season in 2017, Whitley was suspended for 50 games the following season for violating MLB’s drug prevention and treatment program.
He received his first non-roster invite to Spring Training in 2019 and played in Triple-A, where he was added to the 40-man roster for the 2020 season, which was canceled due to no minor league baseball. Just as it seemed Whitley was close to his debut, he tore his ulnar collateral ligament and underwent Tommy John surgery in early 2021, not pitching again until summer 2022. Whitley started the 2023 season being optioned to Triple-A, making eight appearances before suffering a lat strain.
Whitley shifted to the bullpen to improve his chances of helping the team before the 2024 season. However, the injury issues continued. He started both the 2024 and 2025 seasons with injuries (finger inflammation and a bone bruise, respectively) before being designated for assignment in June 2025.
“Very difficult decision based on how hard [Whitley] worked to get to the big leagues, the battle through injuries, but this is the part of the business that we’ve got to make tough decisions,” Espada told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart in June. “The stuff is really good, but we’re taking into consideration who’s [in] our bullpen and the way they’re performing, and performance does matter. It was just a move that we needed to make at this time.”
A few days later, the Astros traded him for cash considerations.
Although the once starter-turned-reliever has faced a challenging path in his professional career so far, he’s still just 28 years old and could benefit from a fresh start.
