Houston Astros 2019 Midseason Top 50 prospects

from September 12, 2019

Prospects1500 Tiers:
Tier 1: Players with high expectations of both making the majors and playing at an All-Star level for a number of years
Tier 2: Players with an above average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 3: Players with an average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 4: Players who have the potential of making the majors, or have high likelihood of making the majors but providing minimal impact (e.g. middle reliever, low-ceiling UT guys)
Tier 5: Players who are worth keeping an eye on, but likely to never make a team’s 40-man roster

Tier 1:
1. Kyle Tucker, OF
(Editor note: At the time this column was written, Tucker was still MiLB eligible. He passed the 130 AB threshold on the final day of the 2019 MLB season)
Fun fact: Tucker nearly has 1,000 at-bats at the Triple-A level and at this point we pretty know what he is at this point. And yet, he still can’t get up to the big leagues. Expect that to change in September, but a full-time role is still up in the air for 2020, although I would bet he earns one. He started out slowly, but has ended up with a 30/30 campaign and has shown a slight increase in his walk-rate, albeit with a big increase in strikeouts. With Yordan Alvarez up for good, Tucker is still the clear #1.

2. Forrest Whitley, RHP
It’s been a nightmare of a season for the former consensus #1 pitching prospect in the minors. Injuries and excessive ineffectiveness and dropped his stock, but I still love the talent. This year will hopefully end up being was Whitley needs to grow and mature to fully reach his ceiling. I’d love to share some stats that paint a picture of hope, but there aren’t any. Just remember the talent and hold on and hope for a bounce back season in 2020.

Tier 2:
3. Abraham Toro, 3B
4. Tyler Ivey, P
It has been a big rise for the right-hander, as Ivey is making a strong case for the best pitcher in the system. He is the anti-Whitley as he has posted a 1.38 ERA for the year with 69 strikeouts in 52 innings. His rise has led to a potential 2020 debut and would be interesting to see if he can keep up the strikeouts in AAA and beyond.

5. Jose Urquidy, RHP
6. Cristian Javier, RHP
7. Freudis Nova, SS

Tier 3:
8. Bryan Abreu, RHP
9. Brandon Bielak, RHP
10. Dauri Lorenzo, SS
11. Luis Garcia, RHP
12. Jairo Solis, RHP
13. Ronnie Dawson, OF
14. Peter Solomon, RHP
15. Brett Conine, RHP
16. Korey Lee, C
17. Austin Hansen, RHP
18. Enoli Paredes, RHP
19. Taylor Jones, 1B
20. Jordan Brewer, OF
21. Josh Rojas, 2B
22. Cal Stevenson, OF
23. Garrett Stubbs, C
Stubbs has a bit of a cult following due to his stature and speed at the catching position. He has a path to playing time if the Astros believe in him and he made his big league debut this year. He hit 7 home runs and stole 12 bases in AAA in only 62 games and I’d expect his contact skills to get back to what they were in 2018 sooner rather than later. He is getting a little older now, and needs to adjust to the big leagues, but I still think there is some sneaky fantasy potential here as a speedy catching option.

Tier 4:
24. Cionel Perez, LHP
25. Jayson Schroeder, RHP
26. Jonathan Arauz, SS
27. Alex De Goti, SS
28. J.J. Matijevic, OF
29. Rogelio Armenteros, RHP
30. Alex McKenna, OF
31. Heitor Tokar, RHP
32. Luis Santana, 2B
33. Colin Barber, OF
34. Dean Deetz, RHP

Tier 5:
35. Valente Bellozo, RHP
36. Yohander Martinez, SS
37. Joe Perez, 3B
38. Brandon Bailey, RHP
39. Grae Kessinger, SS
40. Ross Adolph, OF
41. Hunter Brown, RHP
42. Nick Tanielu, 3B
43. Jeremy Pena, SS
44. Ryan Hartman, LHP
45. Reymin Guduan, LHP
46. Nathan Perry, C
47. Brett Adcock, LHP
48. Carlos Machado, OF
49. Kit Scheetz, LHP
50. Jose Alberto Rivera, RHP