Houston Astros: The minor league touchables and untouchables in a trade
Forrest Whitley – Untouchable
While Forrest Whitley is still quite a ways away from the big leagues, I like his chances to climb the ladder quickly as he seems to have a great handle on being not just a thrower but a pitcher. His strikeout numbers are high, but compared to Francis Martes in terms of going deep into games, Whitley has been able to strike a high number of hitters out with lower pitch counts.
This leads me to believe he has a bright future as a starter because it is extremely difficult to be a strikeout pitcher without also suffering from high pitch counts that knock you out of a game early. I also wrote a piece on Whitley’s potential even more recently, but since his promotion to A+ ball, here are his numbers in those three starts:
- Five innings pitched, zero earned runs, no hits, one walk, nine strikeouts, 70 pitches thrown.
- Five innings pitched, one earned run, five hits, no walks, five strikeouts, 71 pitches thrown.
- 5.2 innings pitched, zero earned runs, three hits, one walk, 10 strikeouts, 98 pitches thrown.
What I love most about these starts is the lack of walks alongside the high strikeout totals. He’s attacking hitters and not getting behind in counts leading to these dominating starts.
(Forrest) Whitley has been able to strike a high number of hitters out with lower pitch counts.
The other thing I love about these starts is his pitch counts in these games. While the third start his pitch count was high, it was also because he threw 10 strikeouts. Those first two starts though is a decently low pitch count that shows he could have gone seven innings strong if he kept his pitch count pace of 14 pitches an inning for the rest of the game.
Whitley seems to be learning quickly and I can see him being the co-ace of the team alongside Lance McCullers Jr.. We especially will need him if Dallas Keuchel leaves via free agency, but it really seems like he could be something special, so I would not sell him for anyone at this trade deadline.