Whitley has been suspended 50 games without pay for violating the minor-league drug program, Buster Olney of ESPN reports.
This is the standard penalty for minor leaguers who test positive for drugs of abuse. Whitley is the game's top pitching prospect, and was poised to reach the majors at some point this season, so this puts a bit of a damper on his prospects for 2018. He was likely in line to throw 130-to-140 innings this season after throwing 92.1 innings in 2017, and he may struggle to reach that mark now. However, he could still join the big-league rotation at some point this summer, as it seems unlikely he'll meet much resistance in the upper levels of the minors. This will have little impact on Whitley's long-term prospects. Recall that Cardinals right-hander Alex Reyes, one of the other top pitching prospects in the game, received the same suspension in 2015, and it's no longer part of the conversation with him. Whitley will be able to pitch in spring training and could return to game action at Double-A or Triple-A in late May.