Whitley made just one relief appearance for the Astros over the past week before landing back on the shelf with another knee injury. The 27-year-old former top prospect has been battling knee issues since spring training. No word yet on how much time he’s going to miss. He’s a non-factor for fantasy purposes at this juncture.

Whitley is a long ways removed from being one of the most exciting pitching prospects in baseball, but he’s still in a position to help Houston’s injury-depleted pitching mix. The 27-year-old missed the first three-plus weeks of the season recovering from a left knee issue. He’ll be available out of the bullpen for Saturday’s battle against the Padres out in San Diego.

Whitley was expecting to start the season as a long relief option this season, but he suffered a bone bruise at the beginning of March. He has already been throwing and could push to get his bullpen spot in the next couple of weeks.

Whitley, once the best pitching prospect in all of baseball, has already transitioned to the bullpen after injuries sapped much of his upside as a starter. However, only four of Whitley’s 32 appearances for Triple-A Sugar Land last season featured more than three outs. The Astros hope to change that this season. “We’re going to slowly build him up,” said manager Joe Espada, “but I expect him to get us more than three outs...If he can go out there and give us two-plus innings, that’s our goal.” Whitley is out of minor league options, so the team will likely carry him on the roster to start the season, and if he can regularly throw multiple innings out of the bullpen, that could give him fantasy value in deeper formats.