Baseball is a beautiful sport for many reasons, but one of my favorite parts is watching teams discover talent and develop players who may have been overlooked. The Astros are doing exactly that with 2025 fifth-round pick right-hander Nick Potter.
Potter spent two seasons at Crowder College, the same junior college that produced current MLB pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, before transferring to Wichita State, where he served as the closer for the Shockers.
After selecting Potter in the 2025 MLB Draft, the Astros made the decision to transition him from a bullpen role into a starting pitcher. The move was a significant change considering Potter had spent his entire college career coming out of the bullpen, making 33 appearances over three seasons without a single start.
“I think it’s getting used to switching from closer to starter,” Potter said about his adjustment this season. “Learning to throw more pitches, have more innings and with the longer season just be able to go longer and stay healthy.”
Potter has been working consistently to build up to a starter’s workload. He began the season with four consecutive three-inning outings due to pitch limitations. Over the last few weeks, his inning totals and pitch counts have started to increase, which is by design as he continues to stretch out.
“We started out it was three innings and 45 pitches, then moved to four innings and 60 pitches, and now we’re up to five innings and 75 pitches,” Potter said.
Beyond simply increasing his pitch count and workload, Potter has also had to adjust his pitching style while moving from a reliever role to a starter at the professional level.
“I think it’s been more pitches but also learning to throw new things,” Potter said about the change from relief to starter. “As a reliever you are going through a lineup once so now the biggest thing is being able to throw to the hitters multiple times in the lineup. So developing the curveball, developing the 2-seam like we have been.”
Potter brings a fastball that can reach triple digits along with a quality slider, but since joining the Astros system, he has focused on expanding his pitch mix. Developing additional weapons is an important step for any pitcher transitioning into a starting role, as consistently succeeding with only two pitches can be a difficult challenge.
So far, the adjustment has paid off, with Potter putting together strong numbers during the 2026 season. Through 41 innings he’s posted a 1.76 ERA while striking out 45 batters over 41 innings. He’s also held opponents to just a .169 batting average against.
“I would say my slider,” Potter said about the pitch that has taken the biggest step forward. “It’s starting to become a true op-cut slider now. Back in college it was good but it was all over the place. Now it’s really starting to dial in on one type of movement.”
A couple of weeks ago when I was in Fayetteville, Potter recorded a swinging strikeout and immediately smiled back toward the dugout.
“It was my first strikeout on the curveball,” Potter said about his smile into the dugout. “It’s been alright but yesterday was the first strikeout with it so I looked into Wiseman [pitching coach] and just kind of smiled at him because we finally got it down.”
With a triple-digit fastball, Potter was able to overpower a lot of hitters in college, but he has had to adjust his pitching philosophy with the move to starter while also facing more advanced hitters at the professional level.
“I think for me it’s still attack them with the fastball, make them hit it,” Potter said about his philosophy. “Going through the lineup multiple times you’re going to have to learn how to use the slider as a chase pitch or get me over pitch. You can’t just go fastball because hitters at this level are better.”
In recent years, the Astros have been able to take undervalued college arms and turn them into legitimate prospects and big league contributors. From Spencer Arrighetti to Ethan Pecko to Bryce Mayer, Houston has shown an ability to identify and develop pitching talent. Potter could be the next arm to make that transition from an overlooked college pitcher into a top pitching prospect in the Astros system.
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