The 2025 MLB Draft is only days away. The Astros are selecting at pick #21 in the first round, and hoping to add another top talent to the system. As the mock draft are coming in hot, this is a list of who the draft pundits have the Astros taking on July 13th.
MLB Pipeline:
Gavin Kilen, 2B, Tennessee
“Aloy, LaViolette or Kilen would make it four straight Astros first-round picks who were college up-the-middle players with offensive upside. Among the high school crop, Neyens gets linked to Houston a lot.”
Kilen is a lefty hitting middle infielder who had a breakout year in 2025 following his transfer to Tennessee. In 53 games he hit .357 with 15 home runs and more walks than strikeouts. His highest rated tool is his hit tool and he is a sold defender at second base.
Baseball America:
Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon HS
“The Astros are shaping up to be something of a wild card. They get tied to a significantly larger pool of names than most teams. Given their bonus pool capital—$7.2 million, fourth smallest—and lack of a second-round pick, they could make a lot of sense for an off-the-board play on a deal. Xavier Neyens, Gage Wood and Slater de Brun are some of the names linked to them who could all fit here as more obvious names. They’ve taken a college hitter in each of the last three drafts. The best available of that demographic could be some combination of Caden Bodine, Andrew Fischer, Ethan Conrad and Cam Cannarella.”
Neyens is a left-handed hitter that boasts some of the best raw power in the draft. He has a big arm at the corner, but his calling card will be the power. Neyens is committed to Oregon State but a first round selection will probably pull him away from college.
The Athletic:
Riley Quick, RHP, Alabama
“The Astros have leaned heavily towards college guys under GM Dana Brown, part preference and part recognition that they’re in win-now mode. There aren’t many college players left on the board in this scenario that would fit here, guys with a plus tool or elite skill and who also look like they could help soon. Quick has the huge velocity and potential for a couple of above-average pitches, and he could move fast to the upper minors next year once he’s two years off Tommy John. Devin Taylor might be their type of bat, but Brown prefers more athletic players, so maybe Mason Neville would fit? I’ve also heard them with California prep infielder Cooper Flemming.”
Seems most have mocked hitters to the Astros but The Athletic have the Astros taking Quick from Alabama. Quick started 14 games for Alabama in 2025 and posted a 3.92 ERA with 70 K in 62 innings. Quick is a monster on the mound at 6’6″ and 245 lbs and runs the fastball up to 99 MPH.
ESPN:
Jace LaViolette, OF, Texas A&M
“This is the point in the draft where the good teams happily use their first-round pick as a lottery ticket on someone whose stock has fallen. And nobody has cratered quite like LaViolette, who stands 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds and has spent the past two seasons in center field for the Aggies. LaViolette has huge raw power and a very good eye, but his .258 batting average alarmed enough teams to allow him to drop here, where the Astros — whose GM, Dana Brown, was a longtime scouting director who loved tooled-up prospects — gladly snap him up.”
LaViolette broke onto the scene with a monster freshman season followed by even a better sophomore year. His numbers went down in his junior season but he still connected on 18 homers and had an OPS over 1.000 for the third straight year. While there is some risk in his bat, the upside is definitely there as he was projected as a top pick going into the season.
CBS Sports:
Caden Bodine, C, Coastal Carolina
“The Astros haven’t taken a high school player in the first round since Forrest Whitley in 2016, but that could change this year if things play out the way they do in our mock draft and some of those high school infielders are still available. For now, we’ll assume GM Dana Brown & Co. will go back to the college well with Bodine, a true switch-hitter with excellent framing skills. He’s the college catcher with the best chance to still be catching in, say, six years in the draft class.”
Bodine had a great college career at Coastal Carolina hitting .337 in 183 games with more walks than strikeouts, including 47 walks to 24 strikeouts in 67 games in 2025. Bodine is a switch hitter with his hit tool being the highest rated in his bag. MLB noted that scouts think they can get him to 15 HR range and he’s a solid defender behind the plate.
The Sporting Tribune:
Gavin Kilen, 2B, Tennessee
“It’s a reasonably new group on the amateur side, but I don’t see things changing dramatically and Houston should keep tradition: Offensive-minded collegiates for the first pick to save money for the lack of picks later. Kilen has a lot of similar traits to previous Astros picks and put on a power display early in the year at Minute Maid Park, or Daikin, or whatever they’re calling it now.”
Another draft with Kilen to the Astros.
Bleacher Report:
Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon HS
“Neyens is the best power bat in the 2025 high school class outside of Ethan Holliday, and while some lingering questions about his hit tool this spring have impacted his stock, there are only so many prospects with 65-grade raw power. He looked like a candidate to go inside the top-10 picks when the spring started, and at this point in the draft it is well worth rolling the dice on him finding enough hit tool to tap into his massive power.”
Like Kilen, this is the second draft with Neyes to the Astros.
After perusing the different drafts in here, which player would YOU like the Astros to select?
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