Astros prospect Whitley suspended 50 games for drug violation

Forrest Whitley, the Houston Astros' 2016 first-round pick and one of the sport's top pitching prospects, received a 50-game suspension Wednesday for a violation of the minor-league drug program, MLB announced, via Jake Kaplan of The Athletic.

Whitley's suspension will be effective April 5, the start of the 2018 Texas League season. The league didn't specify which type of banned substance he tested positive for.

"I made a mistake and take full responsibility for my actions," Whitley said in a statement through his agent, per MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. "I want to apologize to the Astros organization, my family, and those closest to me. I will learn from this mistake and continue striving to be the best baseball player that I can be."

Last year, in his first full season as a professional, Whitley emerged as one of baseball's most promising young pitching talents, authoring a 2.83 ERA while notching 143 strikeouts in 92 1/3 innings split across three minor-league levels. He finished the campaign with Double-A Corpus Christi as a 19-year-old, where he dominated against considerably older competition, crafting a 1.84 ERA in four starts while limiting opponents to a .157 batting average.

Whitley, who turned 20 in September, wasn't invited to the Astros' major-league spring training camp, but general manager Jeff Luhnow expressed confidence last month that he could reach the big leagues at some point in 2018.

"He's going to get some exposure in camp, but the reality is there's a good possibility Forrest Whitley will continue to progress and be an option for us late in the summer, and any time you can conserve some innings in February and March (that) you can deposit into September and October, that's a good thing," Luhnow told MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.