Sugar Land is playing with only 26 men on their roster (rather than the 28 man maximum) due to all the injuries on the major league roster. Corpus is playing with 27 instead of 28. Nate wohlgemuth was promoted to AA. Trey McLaughlin was promoted to AAA. P Raimy Rodriguez was activated from the complex to High A. As a 20 year old he will be one of the younger pitchers in that league. The FCL season starts in a little over 2 weeks on May 2nd. There are only 18 players active on the Astros FCL roster, so there should be at least 8 guys who were brought over from the DSL, but possibly as many as 12.
First "Fun With Stat Filters" of 2026. Astros Pitchers, age 19 or younger in A ball or higher, 2006 to present, xFIP < 3.5, k/9 > 9, min 5 ip: Jordan Lyles 2009: elite prospect who became a MoR SP Lance McCullers Jr 2013: elite prospect who became a MoR SP Frances Martes 2015: elite prospect who busted Franklin Perez 2016: elite prospect traded for Verlander derailed by injury Forrest Whitley 2017: elite prospect who busted Jaime Melendez 2021: derailed by injury Jagger Beck 2026
Sad, sad story. Former farmhand Jon Kemmer died in a car crash in Galveston County this past weekend.
Damn that is terrible. He was a good minor league player and got as close as you can possibly get, gave himself every opportunity but just never got the call. In 2015 I had just put together an excel model that used fangraphs and other data to project prospects, and he stood out as an underrated prospect. He had a ..988 ops in AA as a 24 year old. Not knowing anything about him, my guess is it would be really hard for anyone to have a 10 year minor league career if they weren’t a good teammate and person. So sad for his family.
Camilo Diaz has 2 HR tonight. He was a former top prospect who lost last year to injury. At one point might’ve been considered the highest ceiling prospect in the system. He has elite bat speed and some defensive value and might be breaking out. Ethan Frey is a HR short of the cycle.
Bryce Mayer vs. Northwest Arkansas: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K Joseph Sullivan and Will Bush have gone deep for Corpus; it’s the 2nd home run of the season for both of them.
Bush really looking good so far. Patient hitter with legit power. CJ Alexander has 2 HR tonight. He and Winkler are 2 guys who might play themselves onto the 40 man roster this season, both have options remaining.
21 hits for Asheville on the road tonight. Everyone in the lineup had at least one and the only person who didn't score a run was Narbe Cruz. Justin Thomas and Freuddy Batista both went 3-6 with a home run and 4 RBI. For Thomas, that was his second homer of the year, while Batista went deep for the first time this season. Cesar Hernandez finished 4-4, and Jason Schiavone hit his 3rd homer of the year.
Nick Potter had a nice start 3 IP 3H 0R 1BB 3K. Looks like he's been efficient and throwing a lot of strikes, which is very encouraging.
Another one. Since 2006, Astros hitters, age 22 or younger in AA, wRC+ >169 (min 30 pa): 2015 Carlos Correa 2026 Will Bush 2016 Ramon Laureano 2016 Alex Bregman 2018 Yordan Alvarez
Brice Matthews graduated based on MLB Pipeline's criteria, so they removed him from their org top 30 list and IF Sami Manzueta is now on the list at #28. Manzueta is someone I've been really high on based on watching youtube clips, the notes I've seeen on him, and his DSL stats, although I hadn't seen much info on his defensive profile until now. From the blurb: The Astros paid the two highest bonuses in their 2025 international class to a pair of players who trained together in Santo Domingo, D.R. Cuban outfielder Kevin Alvarez signed for $2 million, while Venezuelan infielder Manzueta turned pro for $847,500. The latter slashed .224/.405/.392 with 42 walks in 47 games during his pro debut as one of the youngest players (age 16) in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League. Manzueta stands out with his advanced feel for the barrel and his control of the strike zone. He has a sound right-handed stroke and recognizes pitches well. He won't be physically imposing and needs to add strength to his 5-foot-10 frame, but his ability to turn on pitches and square them up gives him some sneaky power that could translate into 12-15 homers per season. While Manzueta trained as a shortstop, his below-average speed and average arm strength aren't suited for the position. He played there briefly in the DSL while spending most of his time alternating between second base and third base. He profiles best at the keystone and could wind up a utilityman who derives much of his value from his on-base skills. If he is one of the prospects who came over to the FCL then his stock will go up in my eyes. If he's able to get to Fayetteville next year at 18 he will be a big time breakout candidate. DSL guys I want to see stateside: 2B Sami Manzueta OF Anthony Millan IF Anthony Areinamo C Alexi Quiroz OF Ariel Lebron
Cole Hertzler @ Winston-Salem: 3 IP, H, ER, 3 BB, 4 K The one hit was a triple hit by Grant Magill, and then Hertzler threw a wild pitch that allowed Magill to score.
Dezenzo is a forgotten man but will be good to get him back healthy. If Matthews continues to struggle I wouldn’t mind Dezenzo getting a shot to be the short side of a platoon with Loperfido in LF.
Miguel Yajure was part of the haul the Yankees sent to the Pirates for Jameson Taillon back in 2021. His last appearance in the majors came on September 25, 2022, when he was the final pitcher to appear for Pittsburgh in an 8-3 loss to the Cubs.
Trevor Austin homered for the second straight night for Corpus; he now has 3 on the year. Pascanel Ferreras (2) and Will Bush (3) have also gone deep tonight.
Ethan Pecko looks like he’s just about ready. He allowed two hits and struck out eight over three scoreless for Fayetteville. Gabel Pentecost rebounded from a tough previous outing by allowing two runs on three hits, walking one, and striking out eight in five innings.
