Houston Astros Top Prospect Back to IL with Elbow Injury

Another tough blow has been dealt to one of the Houston Astros top prospects as he winds up back on the injured list again.

Apr 16, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Forrest Whitley (60) / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The pitching situation for the Houston Astros has been a complete disaster this season, but there is some hope that it might be turning around soon.

After not having Justin Verlander for the early part of the year, he's returned and has put together two solid outings with just two earned runs allowed through 10 1/3 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts.

Now, they'll be welcoming Framber Valdez back to the mound this weekend in another much-needed return as the top of their rotation is starting to become more stabilized.

When they eventually activate Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javier off the injured list, they'll finally have four of their projected starters healthy for the first time all year.

But as has been the story for the Astros thus far, another pitcher in their organization has picked up an injury.

According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, their former top prospect Forrest Whitley is now hitting the minor league injured list with elbow discomfort in his throwing arm.

It's been a tough career for the right-hander after being ranked as Houston's No. 1 prospect from 2018-21 that has been marred by suspensions and injuries which prevented him from making his Major League debut until this year.

He only appeared in one game where he recorded two outs to get them out of an inning before being sent back down to Triple-A.

During the offseason it was thought that Whitley could factor into their bullpen since they lost three players from last year's team in free agency and another to injury, but when he couldn't compete in Spring Training because of an injury, he started out in the minors.

Now, injury issues are plaguing him again.

It's unknown how much he actually would have factored in with the Astros getting back many of their injured arms, but the bullpen hasn't quite lived up to the expectations they had entering the season so he might have been called upon again.

That won't be the case for a while as Whitley is sideline on the injured list until his elbow recovers.