Minor league free agent lefty signed from bostons system. At one point he was up to 97 but he sits low 90s, throws 4-5 pitches. Looking at his savant data I don’t see anything too remarkable but must be something there given the results and at this point I expect every pitcher Houston drafts or signs to be good.
Astros made a minor league trade for IF Rowdey Jordan. I assume it’s cash going back. Probably nothing to get excited about. https://risingapple.com/ny-mets-prospect-traded-al-contender-astros-rowdey-jordan
Brice Matthews is a very interesting player - riddled with a weird mixture of green and red flags. The good is that his bat speed is elite, his athleticism is popping more than ever and with the league going towards more stolen bases, he is someone that could steal 50 bases in his sleep with his speed, read of pitchers and explosiveness. He is capable of even more if he gets on base. The other positive is that he has done a very good job the last couple of seasons of learning to not swing at pitches outside the zone. He is actually very good at this and as a result draws a lot of walks, which play in perfect with his ability to steal bases. So far the power in 2025 hasn't shown up, but in the past he has flashed 60 extra base type potential. The negatives are that he tends to get hurt or banged up - and more importantly, he swings through more strikes than just about anyone. They are working on it right now - they have moved his hand placement but the early returns are bad. Overall, he is very much a boom/bust prospect. It is very simple with him - if he cuts down his swing and miss in the strike zone, and he will be a multi-level star big leaguer that can be above average across the board with a high OB%, high defensive value, positive homer potential and elite double potential that can also swipe 50-80 bases a year while hitting anywhere in the line-up. The down side is that if he doesn't get his contact rate in the zone under control, and he will need to join Joey Gallo on the professional slow pitch softball circuit. He is starting to heat up in AAA as he adjusts to the tinkering with his hands.
Yeah he’s not viable with that much swing and miss. Hopes are pinned on the fact that he’s young and hardworking and was moved up really quickly, so he might evolve. RHH Joey Gallo with half the power and twice the speed isn’t more than a fun-to-watch bench/AAAA guy. A RH Jazz Chisolm might be a good comp for a good outcome for Matthews.
Other observations - Walker Janek is the Astros prospect IMO, with Luis Baez behind him. The Astros best prospects on the down low are a string of pitchers - Anderson Brito, Miguel Ullola, Ethan Pecko, Jose Fleury and AJ Blubaugh all have the stuff and/or make up to be good big-league pitchers. The Astros have a chance to get a couple of starting pitchers and a leverage reliever out of this group. Brito, Pecko and Ullola have the stuff to be #2 starters if they work on their weaknesses. The internal reports on Ryan Forcucci are very high, as they view him as a free #1 pick. Joseph Sullivan and Kenni Gomez both have a long way to go - but if you are looking for guys with strong hand/eye coordination, those are the two guys. Both are long shots, but it wouldn't be stunning if one of them turns into a Bill Spiers type hitter.
Yeah - it is hard for me to picture am intermediate outcome with his strengths and weaknesses. He is far more disciplined than Chisolm, which is why I think it is a boom or bust type outcome. I think he is either an all-star or not a big leaguer at all. He cuts down his swing and misses in the zone and it will be hard to keep him from being a devastating player - but he is also not 19-20 years old at this point.
First details I’ve seen on Jeron Williams’ injury are in this article about the fastest player in each system: https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/each-team-s-fastest-prospect-2025?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage#alwest Astros: Jeron Williams, INF (unranked) Williams led NCAA Division I with 49 steals in 53 tries at Toledo in 2023, after which the Astros signed him as a ninth-rounder. He has plus-plus speed and swiped 26 bases in 31 tries in 71 games between High-A and Double-A last year before sustaining a severe shoulder injury that led to season-ending labrum surgery that will sideline him until at least June. That’s a real bummer, he was one of my favorite prospects with breakout potential coming into this season, now he’ll be lucky to even get a meaningful sample of playing time over July-Aug. looks like a lost season for him.
Explain what you meant in the first sentence please, I think there is a word or two missing. I think you meant top prospect but if that’s true with his initial body of work in the minors, yuck. What are you seeing there? If the Astros keep up the assembly line of pitchers the way they have you probably just have to earmark all the FA money and trade assets to getting guys on the hitting side.
Sorry, as I get older my typing gets worse and I need to start spell checking. Janek and Baez are the two most OVER RATED prospects in the Astros system IMO. As far as bats are concerned - there are some that the Astros have and are producing, and I would not rule out trades for minor league hitters and young hitters that are not established yet.
There seems to be an absolute glaring lack of quality infield prospects right now; worse than I can recall at any point going back to before 2011. They’re signing guys who’ve been released by other orgs just to fill spots. Matthews and Jaworsky are really the only 2 prospects who look like they have a shot to be everyday infielders. They seem pretty well stocked with pitchers and outfielders.
I agree with this - I think they plan on having Paredes at through 27' and have tried to tack on another year or two.... so that would be an infield spot. They have Pena through 27' as well but as far as I know there are no contract discussions, and with his father being a big leaguer, I think Pena likely will not want to tack on a year or two because his financial obligations are limited..... Walker is signed through 2027 as well.... So, three of the four infield spots are locked up for almost three seasons - and they have Matthews and Jaworsky as legitimate infielders... and they can always find someone like Baez to put at first. Brown doesn't like drafting for position, but you would think something has to give. Smith could go back to third or 1st, but I think he going to be too good an outfielder, he looks like he can win a number of GG's out there if he improves his routes a little. My guess is that Brown does what he discussed before - trades for a prospect or prospects in another system. I know Brown is arguably the best scout in baseball and his player development people are top notch - but it is always risky trading for players from another system because that system sees their guys every day and usually knows if they are good. As for the players in the Astros system - I am not as high on Jaworsky as some. I think that he will be a big leaguer and was a good draft pick, but his bat needs to show some pop in the next few season.
He hasn’t played 2B this year. He’s played 4 games at 3B and 1 at SS. I personally think he’s viable at 1B, 2B, and 3B. But it doesn’t look like the front office agrees; I think they see him as a corner OF who can play corner IF in a backup capacity. But yes, for now he’s probably Houston’s 3rd best “infield” prospect. If Jancel Villarroel ends up viable at 2B he’d be on the list. Jeron Williams and Camilo Diaz getting severely injured was a big blow. Hopefully it works out such that their top 2 bonus picks in the June draft are infielders. And like Nook said, I could see Houston trading excess big leaguers for infield prospects. The Astros have inflicted it on themselves to a certain degree, being so quick to move infielders to the outfield (why has Tommy Sacco played almost all his games in LF this year?!) and using 1B as a spot for a 3rd (or 4th) catcher on each roster.
Raimy Rodriguez @ Lynchburg: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K However, he had to take the loss as Fayetteville was shut out 3-0.
Well, he homered in his first game with Corpus tonight. Jordan looks like a good college player who could carve out a decent minor league career.
Asheville flirted with getting no-hit tonight, but they got a couple of nice performances from two relievers. Julio Rodriguez: 3 IP, H, BB, 3 K Hudson Leach: 2 IP, H, 4 K Leach has 18 strikeouts in 9.1 innings this season.
Luis Rodriguez @ Lynchburg: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K Drew Brutcher finished a home run shy of the cycle; he hit an RBI triple and then capped off a 7-run 7th for Fayetteville by smacking a two-run double and scoring on a wild pitch. Cesar Hernandez and Max Holy both finished with two hits and two runs scored.
