Apr 21, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Forrest Whitley (55) reacts after an out against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images
With the San Diego Padres looking through every nook and cranny for pitching depth, at least one risk will likely be taken this offseason. Could they make a splash with a former top prospect?
The San Diego Padres have been successful in trading with the Tampa Bay Rays in the past.
As a matter of fact, A.J. Preller seems to be the one man who can fleece the Rays in a trade, but that’s a whole other topic for discussion. San Diego will look for talent on the mound, and the Rays have a logical trade candidate among their halls and halls of pitching. In a transaction that many overlooked, Tampa Bay claimed former Astros top prospect Forrest Whitley on waivers and added him to their roster. The Rays would later designate the right-hander for assignment after he struggled in a brief look in relief (4.2 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 2 HR). Whitley would be sent down to Triple-A Durham after not being claimed on waivers.
A clean inning for Forrest Whitley in his Rays debut
He leaned into his fastball and cutter, looked really solid pic.twitter.com/12ja7XQ1eu
— Jake (@TBRaysCentral) June 17, 2025
With the Durham Bulls, Whitley returned to a starting role and made well of the opportunity. As they say, he was so back… to form. Starting 12 of 13 games, he threw 55.1 innings with a 2.60 ERA and 3.48 FIP. He struck out 66 of 217 batters faced while walking only 19, which translates to a 30.4% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate, respectively. For Whitley, it was his most successful stretch of pitching of the season, and his first time starting games since 2022. This stretch of games was enough to entice Tampa Bay to add him to its 40-man roster after the season.
Clap it up for Forrest Whitley, y’all!
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He struck out 9 of 19 batters faced over 5 scoreless frames, yielding just 2 hits & 1 walk
Final line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 SO pic.twitter.com/5Ke6YTB36U
— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) July 27, 2025
So what exactly does Whitley bring to the table?
His arsenal remains as electric as it was during his days as a highly touted prospect. His four-seam fastball continues to sit in the mid-90s, averaging 95.0 mph during his stint in the minor leagues. While the four-seamer’s shape is derived from Whitley’s 40-degree arm angle, he can supplement it with a supporting cast of pitches that allows the heater to be effective. Whitley showcased five other pitches in Triple-A, all of which graded out as above-average. Whitley’s most used secondaries are his cutter and changeup, which posted Stuff+ readings of 108 and 98 at the MLB level in 2025. At the minor league level, their Stuff+ was 108 & 106, respectively. Whitley’s changeup is his only secondary offering with armside movement, averaging 17.7 inches of horizontal break. Whitley also used a slurve/sweeper, a traditional curveball, and a sinker in his Durham stint. The arsenal is clearly there for him to work in a starter’s role, as it had a cumulative 107 Stuff+ in 2025.
Graphic by Thomas Nestico (@TJStats)
If the stuff is so good, why did he go unclaimed on waivers twice? It’s fairly simple to explain. Location+ is a metric that measures a pitcher’s ability to deliver his pitch in the intended location, with a location+ of 100 registering as average. Whitley’s Location+ in 2025 was 85, or 15% below league average. For a pitcher who uses his fastball to set up his breaking balls, locating the pitches is imperative. Whitley’s sinker & changeup were the only pitches to register an above-average Location+ in his brief MLB stints, with his curveball registering an egregious 61 Location+ (or 39% below league average).
His command showed improvements with Triple-A Durham, as he was getting elite chase and whiff rates despite a 48.7% strike percentage. When he can locate his fastball to set up the spinners, he has the potential to generate swings and misses aplenty. Harnessing the stuff is clearly the next step for the talented right-hander, and the Padres under Ruben Niebla have been able to guide pitchers in harnessing their elite stuff.
From watching the tape of his outings in Durham, the changeup is a legitimate out pitch, especially when used in the proper sequencing. Whitley was unafraid to throw it to batters, regardless of what side of the plate they swing from. The horizontal break is sufficient enough to fool batters of both sides. The shape of the changeup is not too different from that of Robert Suarez, despite a slight difference in velocity.
Forrest Whitley fired 6 more scoreless innings tonight, including these 8 strikeouts
He has not allowed a run over his last 12.2 frames ?
Final line tonight: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 SO pic.twitter.com/OLAusUrz8b
— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) August 14, 2025
To be even more nitty-gritty, here is a comparison of Whitley’s changeup compared with Robert Suarez’s changeup. AJ Blubaugh is included as the next closest comparison to Whitley’s changeup.
Pitcher
Avg, Velocity
iVB (inches)
Horizontal Break (in.)
Arm Angle (Degrees)
Suarez CH
90.5 mph
7.8”
17.1”
45°
Whitley CH
85.3 mph
7.2”
17.7”
40°
AJ Blubaugh CH
85.5 mph
7.2”
17.4”
43°
When it comes to making a deal, Tampa Bay clearly has some belief in what Whitley can do, or else they would not have added him to the 40-man roster. It may take an MLB-ready player for the Rays to bite on a trade. San Diego has a surplus of depth arms that could be of intrigue to Tampa Bay, both on the 40-man and in the upper minors. A depth arm like Sean Reynolds, Jackson Wolf, or Matt Waldron going the other way would likely be the start of any deal, with both teams likely including a lower-level prospect in the trade. So, for the sake of hypotheticals, a trade like this could be one way to approach the negotiation:
San Diego acquires RHP Forrest Whitley, LHP Jeremy Pilon
Tampa Bay acquires LHP Jackson Wolf, RHP Kleiber Olmedo
With the Padres in need of depth additions and another power bat, finding value in the pitching market would be one way to keep multiple options open. Taking a chance on a resurging arm like Forrest Whitley could be one way to find such value.
A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.
A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.
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