Garrett

Whitley

Whitley signed a minor league contract with the Phillies last December and wound up being released after slashing .161/.226/.232 with one homer and one steal across 15 games this season for Double-A Reading. The 26-year-old former first-round selection has yet to reach the majors after being drafted back in 2015 and the odds of him ever reaching the big leagues appear extremely slim at this point.

Whitley was a first-round selection of the Rays back in 2015 and has yet to ascend to the majors. He signed a minor league pact with the Brewers last year and hit .220/.355/.385 with 10 homers and 19 steals in 353 plate appearances between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville. The 25-year-old outfielder will open the 2023 campaign at Triple-A Lehigh Valley and could make it to Philadelphia at some point.

No real surprises in the first batch of cuts from the Brewers. Sadzeck is the most notable inclusion, but was always expected to function as extra organizational relief depth this season. Whitley, a former first-round pick back in 2015, is another high-profile name in this group.

Whitley, the 13th overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, batted .229/.338/.444 with 13 home runs and 12 stolen bases in 88 games this past summer between the Double-A and Triple-A affiliates of the Rays. He’ll turn 25 years old next March.

Whitley could even be ready for the start of the minor league season. The 23-year-old was hit in the face by a foul ball in the dugout during the Rays’ Grapefruit League on Monday. He’ll take a week off, and then the Rays will reassess the next step. He’s a former first-round pick who struggled with a .751 OPS, 10 homers and 14 steals for High-A Charlotte in 2019.

Whitley will see a specialist to come up with a plan from here on out, but he’s expected to miss considerable time. The 22-year-old was a first-round pick of the Rays in 2015 and batted .226/.339/.412 with 10 homers and 16 steals over 114 games with High-A Charlotte last year.

It was a very scary moment, as Orioles DH/first baseman Renato Nunez hit a ball into the dugout and there was just no time for Whitley to react. He was quickly moved to the clubhouse with team trainers. The good news is Whitley remained coherent the entire time. More will obviously be known about his status after the test results come back.

That gives Whitley eight hits over his last two contests. The 19-year-old has slugged his way to an impressive .413 average over his last 11 games while raising his average from .225 to .263. He’s provided six RBI and the same number of steals during that stretch. After getting off to a slow start this year, the 2015 first-round pick is finally showing that he belongs.

His night included a triple and three singles. Whitley also plated two of the Renegades’ seven runs in a 13-inning win over Aberdeen. The 19-year-old has enjoyed a nice stretch over his last 10 games, hitting .357 over that span while boosting his season average from .225 to .250. Whitley is tied for third in the New York-Penn League with 20 steals and also ranks fourth with five triples.

The homer is his tenth of the year. The Rays took Whitley with the 13th pick of the 2015 draft, and there’s been more downs than ups in his time with the system. He’s still just 20, however, and he has flashed five tools. It’s not unheard of to see players of his skill and age to take big jumps forward, which is good, because he’s going to need to next year to become a legit fantasy prospect again.