Following several years of rebuilding and development, the Astros broke through in 2015, beginning a remarkable run that included eight straight playoff appearances, four American League titles, and two World Series championships. But before they were stars, many of those key contributors were simply prospects working their way through the system. Now, a decade later, let’s take a look back at the best Astros prospects of the past ten years. For the sake of this list, I won’t use anyone who debuted in 2015 or earlier (which takes out Correa, Springer and McCullers).
Bregman was drafted with the second overall pick in 2015, a pick the Astros received for failing to sign Brady Aiken in 2014, after a standout career for LSU. Bregman went into the system and hit .294 in 66 games following the draft. He was the #22 prospect in baseball headed into the 2016 season. He started the year in Double-A and hit .297 with 14 HR and a ridiculous 42 walks to 26 strikeouts in 62 games earning a promotion to Triple-A where he .333 in 18 games. Bregman was called up in July and made his debut on July 25th, 2o16.
Tucker was drafted 5th overall in the same 2015 draft where the Astros nabbed Bregman. Tucker was drafted out of high school so he had more time in the minors. He was the #74 prospect headed into 2016 and he put up a strong first full season hitting .285 with 25 doubles, 9 home runs and 69 runs batted in over 117 games. The next season he was ranked #35 and he continued to perform hitting .274 with 33 doubles, 25 home runs and 90 runs batted in between Double-A and Triple-A at just 20 years old. This earned him the ranking at the #17 prospect heading into 2018. That season Tucker started out in Triple-A and destroyed the ball hitting .332 with 24 home runs and 93 runs batted in. He made his debut in 2018 but still had rookie status, which led to him being the #8 prospect in baseball heading into 2019. He was called up later in that season and he never looked back.
The Dodgers originally signed Alvarez for $2 million back in 2016 and the Astros got a steal in when they acquired him from the Dodgers in a trade for Josh Fields. Alvarez had a breakout 2017 where he hit .304 with 12 home runs and 69 runs batted in over 90 games. This earned him the ranking as the #62 prospect going into 2018. He had a big season starting the year in Double-A and hitting .325 with 12 HR, 46 RBI and 168 wRC+ in 45 games. He was promoted to AAA where he had a .801 OPS with 8 HR in 43 games to finished the year. Overall he had a 139 wRC+ as a 21 year old between AA and AAA. He was ranked the #34 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America going into 2019. That season he started in Triple-A and crushed the ball hitting .343 with 23 home runs and 71 runs batted in over 56 games. He was promoted to Houston where he won the 2019 Rookie of the Year.
Peña was drafted by the Astros in the 3rd round of the 2018 draft and was seen as one of, if not the best, defenders in the draft. He played in 36 games following the draft and hit .250 with 18 BB/19 K. The next season he spent time between Single-A and High-A and hit .303 with 21 doubles, 7 home runs, 20 stolen bases over 109 games. Like all prospects, Peña missed the 2020 season due to COVID. In April of 2021, Peña would have wrist surgery causing him to miss most of the season. He came back late and finished the season strong hitting .287 with 10 home runs over 30 games in Triple-A. Going into the 2022 season, Peña was ranked the #16 prospect in baseball according to Baseball Prospectus. He started out the 2022 season at the big league level and didn’t look back winning a World Series and World Series MVP in his rookie year.
Lastly we have Hunter Brown. He was selected by the Astros in the 5th round of the 2019 draft. I got a message from a friend of his saying he was the next Verlander, and he was right. Brown only pitched in 23.2 innings following the draft and then like Peña, he missed the 2020 season due to COVID. He came back in 2021 and started the year in Double-A striking out 76 over 49.1 innings, earning him a promotion to Triple-A where he finished with a 3.88 ERA and 55 K in 51 innings. The next season he was in Triple-A and dominated posting a 2.55 ERA with 134 K in 106 innings before a late season call-up. He was ranked the #28 prospect going into 2023 by Baseball America. He hasn’t been back in the minors since 2022 and is an AL Cy Young finalist this year.
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