Astros minor-league pitcher Forrest Whitley suspended 50 games for violating drug policy

Houston Astros minor-league pitcher Forrest Whitley, one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, has been suspended 50 games for violating the league's drug prevention and treatment program, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred's office announced Wednesday morning.

Whitley will be suspended without pay beginning with the first game of the Double-A Texas League's upcoming season.

The 17th overall pick in the 2016 MLB draft, Whitley is rated the No. 2 pitcher and No. 10 overall prospect by Baseball America. (Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels is rated the No. 1 pitching prospect, though he will also play outfield and likely start the season with the big-league club.)

Whitley was also rated the No. 36 overall prospect in baseball by MLB.com.

"We do everything we can to educate our guys and keep them from making decisions that result in suspensions," Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow told reporters. "In this case, obviously, as an organization we're going to suffer a little bit. But we're still hopeful and optimistic that Forrest is going to be a big part of our future."

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The league did not specify whether Whitley is being suspended for using drugs of abuse or performance-enhancing drugs. Luhnow declined to specify the drug in question when asked by reporters.

"MLB has released the information that they're going to release, and I'm not in a position to release information beyond that," he said.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.