Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said Tuesday that Whitley will likely pitch in games at extended spring training rather than immediately reporting to Double-A Corpus Christi when his 50-game suspension ends May 29, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic Houston reports.
At some point after Whitley was suspended Feb. 21 for violating baseball's drug program, Luhnow revealed that the Astros' top pitching prospect sustained a minor lat injury that briefly shut him down for a couple weeks. As a result, Whitley's throwing program has been delayed slightly longer than expected, so he'll need additional time to build up his arm in Florida before likely entering Corpus Christi's rotation in the second week of June. Once he settles into a normal pitching schedule at Corpus Christi, Whitley probably won't take long to assert his dominance and warrant a promotion to the majors, though Houston's unmatched rotation depth could prompt the 20-year-old to make his big-league debut out of the bullpen.