Prediction for Whitley’s July-August: 32 ip, 9er, 43k, 17bb He hits those marks he will be ready for a callup.
I think that inning was actually much better for Whitley, just a victim of some bad pitch sequencing and defense. The home run had an exit velocity of 90 mph. Even though it's felt like he's been hit around, Whitley has only given up two hard hit balls so far. Also has a swinging strike rate around 16%.
At this point, it's still early enough in his rehab where I care more about velo, whiffs, and command more than actual results. Sounds like the "stuff" is mostly good. After a few more starts, any good or bad luck should start to even out.
The complex leagues also played today. Darwin De Leon, who homered in his pro debut, homered again for the Orange team in their 8-3 loss to the Red Sox Red team. Amilcar Chirinos allowed three hits and struck out seven over three scoreless. At 20, he's a bit old for the DSL, but that hasn't really mattered much when it comes to the Astros. Sandy Gaston doubled and scored a run for the Blue team, whose game against the Guardians' Red team was suspended. Ricardo Balogh had a bases-clearing double as the FCL Orange team beat the Mets 4-2. Ian Foggo allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out the side to get the save. Foggo probably has the most hilarious stat line of anyone in the system: he has 6 saves in 11 appearances between the FCL and Fayetteville. He's only allowed 5 hits in 15.1 innings... while walking 25 and striking out 31. The FCL Blue team split a doubleheader with the Cardinals, losing 6-1 and winning 4-0. Colton Gordon struck out 5 over three perfect innings and Reimy Beltre allowed a hit, walked two, and struck out seven in the win.
Being able to actually watch, as opposed to just read the box scores, I think Whitley's stuff was better than the box score would indicate. He also had some really bad defense behind him that did not give him any help. The biggest play being a 2 out fielder's choice that should have been the third out, and then got followed by a GS. I do not think those runs should be earned even though they are counted as such. He also generated quite a few whiffs. You can watch here: https://www.mlb.com/news/watch-minor-league-baseball-games-for-free?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage
Yeah the first inning was iffy but he settled down and the defense fell apart. Whatever. The stuff looks very good and it’s getting results in whiffs and called strikes. People on Twitter declaring him a bust bc of the runs surrendered are missing the point.
David Hensley just hit a two-run single to extend his hitting streak to 8 games. Five of those were multi-hit games. The battle between him and Enmanuel Valdez for a utility spot for 2023 looks to be a good one because I don't really see the Astros keeping Aledmys after this year. Dubon's hanging around because he can play CF and both Hensley and Valdez have only played in the corners.
I'm not too concerned about a single bad start. He's working on regaining his fitness and his velocity... and he's clearly working on a variety of pitches, given the diversity of his pitch selection. He's training and working on development... not working on his ERA. I think Whitley could be a nice piece to next year's Astros team.
