Not a big fan of the Callis list. I agree with the top few - but after that, they are really all over the place.
Interesting notes from that list: Alvarez getting props on his defense Callis says Neyens will start in Fayetteville. Good sign. On Janek: "some scouts believe he's the best catcher in the minors" 97 or better pitch velo: Pecko, Blubaugh, Ullola, Santa, Hertzler, Leach, David, Potter (100!) Forcucci's recovery has gone slower than expected James Hicks was Arizona Fall League pitcher of the year Huezo hurt his hamate bone early last season Cole Hertzler went to HS with Trey Yesavage Parker Smith hurt his back early last season Caden Powell broke his hamate last year Pentecost had a shoulder impingement last year
Summoned from the backfields for today: Rhett Kouba Tyler Whitaker Tyler Guilfoil Jose Fleury Kyle Walker
Fermin at 10 was high. Didnt really see anybody too low but not having Baez in the top 30 seems harsh.
This system now has a prospect in the upper levels that doesn't have at least one significant question about their offense to address. It's been a while...
My first impression when I saw Fermin at 10 was that they must really be unimpressed with the system. Tapping Mayer as the top pitching prospect also looks odd to me, but I suppose the Mayer/Blubaugh/Pecko/Forcucci group could be argued in just about any order. Mayer seems like the lowest upside of the group with Pecko and especially Blubaugh arguably safer picks. The power Huezo showed despite the hamate surgery was impressive. He cut his strikeout rate in the Australian league, though that may have been less competitive than A ball. He was arguably the most improved player in the system last year, so it'll be interesting to see if he can continue to make adjustments. I found it funny that the write ups for each of the top 4 prospects had them taller than their bio. I thought Baseball America was going to be leading the Kevin Alvarez bandwagon, but they were higher on Neyens in the off-season. I wonder if the spring training looks at Alvarez pushed him to the top of the MLB list. With the hype he's been getting, I wouldn't be surprised if he started in Fayetteville too.
Looking at MLB Pipelines Top 30s for the AL West, here are the number of 55+ and 50 grade prospects for each team: Grade 55+/50 A’s 3/4 Astros 0/5 Angels 1/4 Mariners 6/2 Rangers 1/3 Basically the Mariners have a monster system but Astros are fairly comparable to the other teams, especially if you accept that Houston tends to get more out of their grade 45 prospects than most teams. If the Astros don’t trade away top prospects from their lower levels at the deadline they should have one of the better systems in the division given the draft resources they have this year; ideally the Astros will come out of the draft with 1 grade 55 prospect and 2 grade 50 guys, with Matthews being the only grade 50+ guy that will graduate this year.
Astros Spring Breakout roster is out: https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-spring-breakout-roster-2026?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage Notable surprise inclusions: P Juan Fraide: up to 97 on fb and 3000 rpm on cb P Joan Ogando: big spin rates P Javier Perez: huge jump in velo last year P Leomar Rosario: throws 100 C Arturo Flores: UDFA the org really seems to like C Jason Schiavone: walk machine with k issues IF Zach Daudet: 2025 10th rd pick IF Max Holy: UDFA with speed and defense OF Chase Call: late round 2025 pick who showed well OF Juan Sierra: exit velo king in complexes It’ll be interesting to see if Neyens and Alvarez and Mitchell get to play and how they fare against older competition.
