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The Houston Astros weren't drafting in the top five picks for the first time since 2011, but they didn't go far to find the No. 17 pick in the 2016 MLB Draft. Astros selected Forrest Whitley, a right-handed pitcher out of Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio.
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With the 17th pick of the 2016 #MLBDraft, #Astros select RHP Forrest Whitley from Alamo Heights HS in San Antonio! pic.twitter.com/0ZvT5iXC0i
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 10, 2016
Whitley, 18, has a 9-1 record and a 0.31 ERA this season as of yesterday. He’s also struck out 126 batters in 68 innings. He stands at 6 foot-seven inches tall and 250 pounds.
Curtis Leister's profile of Whitley included:
Whitley's fastball is currently is top offering, as it sits closer to 92-94 mph consistently. The fastball looks to have some horizontal run on it as well- if you watch Whitley's first pitch of the second video below (that game is also in a dome in Japan which is cool), he throws some kind of nasty two-seamer that tails away from the right-handed hitter last minute. That could just be a flash of a developing fastball with movement, but it's pretty impressive either way.
Photo courtesy of Donald J. Boyles Baseball Photography. You can find Mr. Boyles work at http://t.co/xXhXYxfan5 and on twitter at https://twitter.com/DonaldJBoyles.