The Rays announced that right-hander Forrest Whitley has been designated for assignment. Replacing Whitley on the active roster is left-hander Joe Rock, who has been called up from Triple-A Durham to make his first appearance on a big league roster.
It was just over two weeks ago that Tampa Bay acquired Whitley in a trade with Houston, after the Astros also DFA’d the right-hander. The move marked the end of Whitley’s nearly nine-year run in the Astros organization, as the 17th overall pick of the 2016 draft dealt with a bunch of injuries and a 50-game PED suspension (in 2018) over the course of what had been a star-crossed career. Whitley didn’t make his MLB debut until 2024 when he made three appearances for Houston, and the Astros opted to finally move on after the righty posted a 12.27 ERA over 7 1/3 innings this season.
Things haven’t gone much better for Whitley since the trade, as he has a 15.43 ERA in 4 2/3 innings over five appearances with the Rays. All of the damage came in the final two of those appearances — Whitley didn’t retire any of six batters faced and was charged with all six runs in a disastrous outing on June 22, and he was tagged for four runs (two earned) in an inning of work in yesterday’s 22-8 Rays loss to the Orioles.
As you might expect from such a football-esque score, the Rays ran through a lot of their bullpen last night, so Rock represents a fresh arm for the relief corps. Whitley is out of minor league options, so the Rays had to first go the DFA route before Whitley can be moved to Triple-A and off the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay could work out another trade to send Whitley elsewhere during the DFA period, or an interested team could simply claim him away on waivers.
Whitley’s prospect pedigree is such that another club might well pick him, though his out-of-options status complicates matters. It could be that Whitley might be in for a string of claims/trades and designations, unless he shows enough immediate results to get himself a longer look in a team’s bullpen. In the small sample of his time with the Rays, he threw his cutter far more often (51% of the time) than he did during his previous MLB stints with the Astros, though that attempted fix didn’t last long.
Rock will be making his Major League debut whenever he officially appears in a game. The southpaw has a notable draft position in his own right, as the Rockies selected 68th overall of the 2021 draft. Tampa acquired Rock in a trade in March 2024, and added him to its 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. After posting a 4.58 ERA in 137 2/3 Triple-A innings last year, Rock has pretty similar numbers in Durham this season, delivering a 4.81 ERA along with a 19.8% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate that are each steps backwards from his metrics in 2024.
Rock has worked primarily as a starter during his minor league career, but could be viewed as an innings-eating long reliever in the Show. MLB Pipeline (which rates Rock as the 21st-best prospect in Tampa Bay’s farm system) suggests that relief work might be in Rock’s future, as his 55-grade slider and fastball could be an effective one-two punch coming out of the pen.
Orioles can hit righties, the Rays bullpen isn’t that bad, Whitley is a good pitcher.
Party Rock
I understand he has an extremely posh older brother named Yacht Rock.
Their parents were The Police?
I do hope Whitley stays in the organization and goes to the minors. The stuff is good and he didn’t look bad in his first few appearances with the Rays. Seems like a good project for the Rays to work on some more.
Considering Tampa’s track history that would likely be best for him, too.
Spend a couple months making tweaks, get a little MLB tine at the end of the year, head to spring training ready to rock.
Joe Rock is definitely an 80-grade baseball name.
Yeah I am still a little sad that the Rockies traded him for like 30 ABs from Greg Jones before cutting him. Joe Rock for the Rockies is 80 grade, for anyone else it’s only 70 or so.
MetsRTrash. Living in your head rent free congratulations
I know Joe’s cousin, Joe Dirt.
Apparently if a Rock falls in the Forrest, someone has heard him.
Tree percent of the time.
I did twenty years
Hopefully all the teams pass on him so he can find a team to work on his mechanics or get in a lab with the right team
His brother is Kid
Are they related to The?
His hillbilly cousin Little lives in Arkansas
And his other cousin Crack is in prison
If you smell what Joe Rock is cookin’
He has a kid.
Disappointing. Whitley wasn’t here long enough to justify this and it was a good story to have him and Baz on the same team.
They made this decision for the same reason the Astros DFA’d Whitley. He’s out of options and both teams are in a playoff race. They can’t afford to basically be one guy “down” in the bullpen because Whitley’s got problems that need to be fixed, The Rays are about to start the most difficult part of their schedule too, with lots of road games ahead, They need everybody available.
If Whitley’s issues are to get fixed, it’s going to happen in the Rays minor league system or in a pitching lab during the offseason, It’ll never happen during the season, unless he’s pitching for a rebuilding team.
i disagree i think the yankees or dodgers minor league could very well fix him. They have a knack of turning out some really good relievers and you dont know how much it pains me as a mets fan to say that but give credit where it is due.
Wonder if wife is an island???
not how you spell boyle
Prospect pedigree? He’s years removed from that. He could be a useful bullpen though for a team that can get him on a minor league deal…
Does the dfa by Tampa count? He was traded prior to it’s completion. If it doesn’t and he passes through then HOU can assign him to the minors and he cannot reject it.
Enough time has passed, the DFA counts. Besides, once a trade is consummated, the DFA clock resets to zero.
I should have clarified if an outright had occurred. Apparently an outright, trade or release are the final moves of a dfa. Since he was traded and not outrighted to the minors by TB then he cannot refuse an assignment,assuming he clears waivers.
I could be wrong Winnie, and I can’t look it up whilst driving, but I do believe Forrest has been Outrighted before.
He definitely was not Outrighted 2 weeks ago (he was traded, concluding his DFA by Houston)
Would like for the Mets to claim him and pass him through waivers…hopefully unclaimed. Worth a shot if the Mets could keep him and work on him without requiring a roster spot.
I thought the Rays would give Whitley a longer shot, but I understand why they didn’t. Just like the Astros, the Rays are in a playoff race. Because Whitley’s out of options, the Rays had the same problem the Astros had, they can’t afford to have a guy in their bullpen that needs to be “fixed” and can’t trust in games.
Hopefully for his sake Whitley goes unclaimed, and he’s humble enough to willingly accept an assignment to the minors. That’s what he needs to hopefully get his career back on track. It’s not going to happen bouncing from team to team.
Joe Rock sounds like a DJ from the 1970s.
Joe Rock = One of Fred Flintstone’s Pals
Little known fact. Joe Rock’s uncle, Bob Rock, produced Metallica’s legendary Black Album. (Or I made that up, take your pick)