Once-promising Astros talent's latest flop has his career hanging by a thread

How much longer are the Houston Astros going to keep Forrest Whitley on the roster? That's a question that numerous Astros fans are undoubtedly asking themselves following the right-hander's latest outing.

Whitley, a former first-round pick and once-heralded prospect, delivered a pathetic performance on Wednesday afternoon in Tampa. After Bennett Sousa handled his business in relief of Astros starter Hunter Brown, manager Joe Espada turned to Whitley with Houston trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning. The results were, in a word, disastrous.

Whitley induced a ground ball out to start the inning, but followed it up with back-to-back walks. A couple of Whitley's pitches to Kameron Misner could've gone both ways, but the Rays' outfielder walked on five pitches. After Misner stolen second base, Whitley was all over the map against Rays' batter Curtis Mead. Another five-pitch walk, this time with almost nothing near the strike zone, put runners on first and second with one out.

Forrest Whitley's latest performance has his Astros' career hanging by a thread

Whitley locked back in and struck out Ben Rortvedt, but paid the price once Rays' slugger Yandy Diaz entered the batters' box. On the very first pitch of the at-bat, Diaz unloaded on a middle-middle fastball and launched it 435 feet off the batters' eye in straight-away center field.

There were some cheap home runs during the Astros' series against the Rays at Steinbrenner Field, but that was not one of them. Diaz's blast increased the lead from one to four. Whitley remained in to face the next two batters; both of whom he walked. Espada then mercifully lifted Whitley from the game.

How much longer will Houston continue to pretend that Whitley is going to be the impact arm they were hoping he'd become? While the Astros are a team that can ill-afford to sacrifice pitching depth at the moment, it's not as if Whitley's career performances are much better than what they could find down in the minors.

Between the injuries, PED suspension, and inconsistencies in the minor leagues, Astros fans are beginning to think it might be time for the Astros to finally cut bait and designate Whitley for assignment. He's out of minor-league options, and it's questionable at this point if he'd even be claimed off waivers. If his time in Houston wasn't hanging by a thread before Wednesday's meltdown, it is now.

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