Forrest
Whitley

Just looking at Whitley’s profile tells you he’s from Texas. He stands at a strong, 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, and has the fastball to match. At the Area Code Games, he sat 90-91 while mixing in two hard breaking balls—a curveball at 76-78 and a slider at 82-85. In four innings pitched, he allowed a run on a hit and three walks while striking out seven. While he’s been firmly on the prospect radar this summer, he may have helped himself with his Under Armour outing where he breezed through an inning with two strikeouts while sitting 95-96. His command can waver at times, but he threw strikes in Chicago and gets heavy life on his fastball. He also showed off a cutter at the Under Armour Game, which had late action and sat at 90. Whitley is committed to Florida State.

8/15/15 - Had arguably his strongest appearance of the summer, pitching a perfect third inning with two strikeouts. His fastball was 93-96 with life to go with a sharp breaking ball at 83-85. He pounded the strike zone and even mixed in what looked to be a cutter at 90.

8/5/15 - Has had better outings, but was still solid, going two innings and allowing a run on a hit and two walks. He struck out three, sitting 90-91 with a 76-78 curveball and 82-85 slider.

Whitley is a typical Texas prospect, jumping out with a big frame and fastball. Standing at 6-foot-7, 240 pounds, Whitley has a power arm. There’s a little bit of effort in his delivery, but he came out with a 93-94 mph fastball that touched 95 with heavy life. He also mixed in a good cutter at 90, which proved to be an out pitch for him. He buried his breaking ball at times, but when he was on, it was 78-80 with sharpness and depth. In 4.2 innings, he allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out nine—tied for the most at the event.

6/27/15 - Made his second appearance of the event and struck out the first four of the first five batters he faced. He finished with five strikeouts and two walks in 2.2 innings. He has a power arm that again produced a fastball in the low 90s according to Trackman data—I was sitting up the line for this game. He also had good spin rate on his breaking balls, throwing several with 2700 or more RPMs.

6/24/15 - Closed out the last two innings of the first game for the Free team, allowing two runs on three hits. He struck out four. He has a big frame, standing at 6-foot-7, 240 pounds. He pitches with some effort and sat 93-94, touching 95, with heavy life. He also mixed in a hard cutter at 89-90. His breaking ball was sharp with depth, sitting 78-80.