Forrest Whitley, one of the top pitching prospects in the Houston Astros organization, suffered an arm injury in Thursday's outing. Whitley, who had been pitching admirably for the Space Cowboys, could miss some time.
Whitley left the game for "undisclosed reasons", per the team, but as a pitcher who has already dealt with major injury woes, it's another setback for the former top prospect. Whitley was finally closing in on Houston, until he wasn't.
As The Athletic's Zach Buchanan noted just a month ago, there's still plenty of potential for Whitley to be a big-league star. He just has to stay on the mound.
"Pitchability is always going to be a concern, but he's throwing strikes so far. The stuff isn't amazing, but it's still plus across the board. He was up to 96-97 mph when I saw him, not 99-100 mph like he threw before. But plus breaking balls and a good changeup. He has the potential for plus command. The delivery is very simple now. I've seen some meltdowns and underachieving in the past, so we'll see. But he's kind of a forgotten guy who still has a chance to be a No. 2 or No. 3."
Whitley is already 25 years old. At some point, the Astros need to see this potential turn into actual results, or else the future may not be so bright after all.
It's a small sample size, but the New York Mets designated Gary Sanchez for assignment after just seven at-bats. It's another indictment on what's been a disappointing couple of years for the former Yankees farmhand.
Sanchez, once an All-Star and one of the most exciting young catchers in baseball, is now on the other side of 30 and struggling to find his stroke again. Sanchez's bat was always his best asset, and he received a promotion after slashing .308/.514/.500 on an MiLB deal for New York.
Sanchez slashed just .167/.143/.167 in a small sample size with the Mets, but ultimately there wasn't much use for him considering Francisco Alvarez is playing so well behind the plate. Alvarez, one of the top prospects in all of baseball, is the team's catcher of the future, and quite possibly the present.
New York has a week to either find Sanchez a suitable trade partner, or pass him through waivers. Beyond that, it's unclear when Sanchez will appear in the major leagues next, as his ability defensively is deteriorating and, as we saw in Queens, his bat can no longer earn him playing time alone.
Much has been made about the St. Louis Cardinals need for starting pitching at the trade deadline, and that point remains. Mike Mozeliak cannot put off improving this rotation any longer.
Over the last few seasons, Mozeliak and the Cards front office have found ways to make incremental changes at the deadline, such as trading for a Jose Quintana or Jordan Montgomery, that essentially plugs a hole but doesn't fix the root problem. This is an organization which once had Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen in their farm system. There are currently young pitchers in their system in the come up, but they won't play at Busch Stadium for a few years yet.
Dylan Cease, for one, has been a name connected to St. Louis should they take a major deadline swing. Beyond that, though, an internal option could be emerging. Miles Mikolas, fresh off another impressive start, hasn't given up more than three runs since April 11. His horrendous start to the year ballooned his ERA, but Mikolas has lowered his earned run average by six full points since then, and threw seven innings of scoreless ball against the Reds on Thursday.
"I look at that as my job every time out - being at the top of the rotation and being an older guy, something I pride myself on is having big games when we're struggling, a big game when our bullpen is running thin or we're resting guys," Mikolas said. "That's my job, and I don't look at it as me doing [anything extra]."
Mikolas is embracing the role of ace, whether the Cards want to hand him that title or not. St. Louis signed him to a contract extension this offseason for a reason. Hopefully, the Cards pitching needs aren't as severe as we thought.