Under is an evaluation of the prospects within the farm system of the Houston Astros. Scouting stories have been compiled with info supplied by business sources in addition to our personal observations. That is the fourth yr we’re delineating between two anticipated aid roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see within the “place” column under: MIRP for multi-inning aid pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning aid pitchers. The ETAs listed usually correspond to the yr a participant must be added to the 40-man roster to keep away from being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Handbook changes are made the place they appear applicable, however we use that as a rule of thumb.
A fast overview of what FV (Future Worth) means may be discovered right here. A a lot deeper overview may be discovered right here.
All the ranked prospects under additionally seem on The Board, a useful resource the positioning presents that includes sortable scouting info for each group. It has extra particulars (and up to date TrackMan information from varied sources) than this text and integrates each staff’s listing so readers can examine prospects throughout farm programs. It may be discovered right here.
Different Prospects of Notice
Grouped by sort and listed so as of choice inside every class.
Projectable PitchersYeriel Santos, RHPDerek True, RHPJulio Marte, RHP
Santos, 20, is an athletic A-ball righty who’s sitting 92-95 with a mean curveball and a changeup of blended high quality. He may find yourself with three common or higher choices, however he has no overt plus trait proper now. True is having professional success in a piggyback function after he was a pure reliever at Cal Poly. He’s sitting 93-95 with an above-average slider and below-average command. He’ll most likely shift again into a brief aid function finally. Marte, 21, is a brilliant projectable righty at 6-foot-5, 180 kilos. He has a protracted, vertical arm stroke and sits 91-95. He’s a easy, sleek athlete however isn’t all that highly effective but, and he struggles to find his breaking stuff.
Energy HittersNehomar Ochoa Jr., OFJeron Williams, 3B/SSGerman Ramirez, 2BFranchely Silverio, SSFernando Caldera, CZach Daniels, OFOliver Carrillo, 1BAnthony Huezo, OF
Ochoa, 18, is a bodily outfielder with large current power and a lift-heavy strategy on the plate. He’s hanging out at a 30% clip in Fayetteville however he’s attending to energy. Williams performed his freshman season at Lincoln Path Group Faculty earlier than he transferred to Toledo, and two seasons later, he was MAC Participant of the 12 months. He’s constructed like an enormous leaguer and has enough athleticism, which is clear in Williams’ finest swings and his acrobatic flashes on protection. He’s been promoted to Corpus Christi fairly rapidly, however don’t we imagine in his really feel to hit due to the way in which his swing appears to be like. Ramirez, 17, is a pull-power projection infielder within the Advanced League. He’s a bucket strider and has long-term hit software threat, however he certain can swing exhausting for a teenage infielder. Silverio is a extra bodily mature model of Ramirez, besides within the DSL. Caldera, 21, is a bodily A-ball catcher who hit for energy final yr however is struggling to this point in 2024. Daniels, 25, is a yoked, power-hitting outfielder with a bottom-of-the-scale hit software. Carrillo, a 21-year-old Mexican first baseman, is constructed like an unsliced rotating spit of gyro meat at an oblong 5-foot-11. He swings exhausting and received a fast hook to Excessive-A after a sizzling begin, however the righty-hitting first base profile is hard. Huezo is a projectable lefty-hitting outfielder with a protracted, lanky body. He signed for $400,000 final yr and was one of many youngest gamers from the 2023 draft. He has been overwhelmed to this point by professional stuff.
Spot Starter CeilingsJulio Robaina, LHPEdinson Batista, RHPJose Fleury, RHPEthan Pecko, RHPAlain Pena, RHP
Robaina, 23, is a slider-oriented Cuban lefty who has lastly pitched his manner out of Corpus Christi. Batista, 22, is a Dominican righty who sits 91-95 with sink. He’s a complicated, athletic, undersized depth starter sort. Fleury, a 22-year-old 6-foot righty, is much like Batista (he’s undersized and comparatively superior), however his fastball performs with vertical motion quite than sink. This yr, he was disregarded Excessive-A and despatched straight to Double-A, the place he’s held his personal regardless of sitting 90-91. Pecko is a drop-and-drive 21-year-old righty from Towson. He’s a loose-bodied athlete with a reasonably supply and a powerful (if mature) body, however he has 40- and 45-grade stuff throughout the board. Pena, 21, is a cutter-oriented Mexican righty who’s working effectively in A-ball. His low-90s stuff isn’t quiet large enough for the primary part of the listing, and like everybody on this group, he has the look of somebody with depth starter ceiling.
Reduction DepthForrest Whitley, RHPCesar Gomez, RHP
Whitley was throwing exhausting (97-99) at first of the season however rapidly hit the IL with elbow discomfort and has solely just lately resumed throwing. He hasn’t been persistently efficient or wholesome for some time, and now that he’s virtually out of choices and clearly on the perimeter of Houston’s roster, he must show it on the large league stage to have any sort of commerce worth. Gomez is a 25-year-old kitchen sink reliever — slider, cutter, changeup, with fastballs and sinkers as much as 96 — who’s having success at Double-A.
System Overview
As was the case with final yr’s listing, Houston’s system has essentially the most depth and upside amongst its place gamers, with Jake Bloss the lone beginning pitcher within the high eight of this rating. The Astros make an apparent effort to maximise the flexibility of their place participant group, with a majority of them getting taking part in time at a number of positions on the defensive aspect of the ball; gamers like Joey Loperfido, Alberto Hernandez, and Brice Matthews are good examples of this. For some, their projections would look drastically totally different with out above-average defensive versatility. There’s additionally no scarcity of high-risk/high-reward sorts on this system, gamers who’ve big offensive upside however some underlying situation that acts as a free Jenga block of their profile. Luis Baez epitomizes this.
The Astros proceed to have an abundance of intriguing arms from the Latin American and home markets, however fewer and fewer of them have sufficient starter-like traits to even will let you dream on them filling a rotation spot on the main league stage. Arms like Alonzo Tredwell, Alimber Santa, and Miguel Ullola all have pitch mixes that look deep sufficient on paper to begin, however their command is mild sufficient that their best innings will likely be out of the bullpen.
Previous to being named the Astros’ normal supervisor in January of 2023, Dana Brown led one of the vital profitable novice scouting departments within the league in Atlanta. We predict it’s secure to imagine Houston will proceed to function with out a lot of an in-person professional division, as they’ve because the mid-Luhnow period, as a result of that was additionally Atlanta’s strategy when Brown was there (although once more, he led the novice aspect). There has but to be a drastic spike within the variety of scouting boots on the bottom Houston has overlaying the novice ranks, but it surely’s additionally nonetheless early in Brown’s tenure; the following couple of years will inform us so much about how the Astros’ novice equipment will function transferring ahead. Their worldwide division has been among the many most constant within the league at figuring out future large leaguers (many extra pitchers than common, and infrequently older, $10,000 or $20,000 signees), however current signing durations haven’t produced a High 100 sort of prospect.
Even with two prospects transferring into the High 100, it is a below-average system on influence and a mean one when it comes to depth. With the twenty eighth decide within the upcoming draft, any short-term leap in farm system high quality will come from trades. Houston’s 2024 accidents and sluggish begin may make them take a vendor’s posture on the deadline for the primary time in a very long time. Alex Bregman is within the ultimate yr of his deal, whereas Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez will likely be free brokers after subsequent season. The Astros are solely 7.5 video games again within the division as of this writing and Brown has said he has no plans to promote, however so much may change between now and the top of July. It will likely be fascinating to see how this technique appears to be like in only a few months.
