Anthony Huezo has done enough on the field to get noticed, but the national prospect crowd still isn’t fully buying in.
The Astros outfielder, just 20 years old, keeps putting up numbers that should force his way into bigger conversations. Instead, he remains a name that seems to sit a little below the spotlight for national evaluators.
Houston drafted Huezo in the 12th round in 2023 out of Etiwanda High School in California. The Astros paid him a bit more than slot to lure him away from his college commitment, but his rise didn’t happen overnight.
He spent a couple of seasons moving around before turning in a strong 2025. That year, he put up an .856 OPS in the Florida Complex League, then closed the season in Single-A by batting .301 over his final 22 games.
The real breakout came in 2026.
Huezo opened the year in Single-A and wasted no time piling up extra-base hits. Across 71 games, he posted an .856 OPS with 20 doubles, four triples, 14 home runs and 30 stolen bases. That performance earned him a jump to High-A, where he kept producing with an .814 OPS, 10 doubles, eight home runs and 16 stolen bases in 38 games.
He then got into three Double-A games to wrap up the season and finished 2026 with 22 home runs and 47 stolen bases. Only five prospects across all of Minor League Baseball reached the 20-homer, 40-steal threshold this season.
For the Astros, it was a milestone worth noting. Huezo became the first Houston prospect to reach that mark since Jacob Melton in 2023. Before Melton, the last Astros prospect to do it was George Springer in 2013.
Melton and Springer both spent time as Top 100 prospects. Huezo, by comparison, is still listed as only the No. 23 prospect in the Astros system by Baseball America.
In Other News...
Astros Just Found Late Season Bullpen Help In A Huge Spot
Miguel Ullola kept the Astros on track in a key win over the Athletics, turning in 3.0 scoreless innings at a time when Houston needed someone to settle the game down. The call-up from the minors has quickly gone from emergency depth to a real bullpen option, and his recent work has given the club a useful arm as the season tightens.
Through 10 appearances, Ullola has posted a 2.30 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 15.2 innings, a solid stretch for a pitcher asked to handle meaningful late-season work. For Houston, the bigger question now is whether this outing was a one-night boost or the latest sign that the bullpen just found another pitcher it can trust when the games start to matter most. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Fans Will Have Strong Feelings About Ryan Pressly's Exit
Ryan Pressly spent years as one of the most trusted arms in the Houston bullpen, the kind of reliever who seemed to show up whenever the games mattered most. His postseason work in 2022 and 2023 helped cement that reputation, and he was part of the clubs run of combined no-hitters, making him a familiar name to Astros fans who watched him handle big innings under the brightest October lights.
So the way his exit developed this offseason is bound to leave a sting. Pressly learned he was losing the closer job to Josh Hader, and the communication around that decision reportedly came poorly from former Astros GM Dana Brown. For a pitcher who had given so much to the organization, Presslys dissatisfaction with how the situation was handled adds another layer to a departure that already feels personal for a fan base that remembers what he meant when the pressure was highest. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Suddenly Have A New Reason To Believe In This AL West Race
The AL West race has tightened again just as the regular season enters its final stretch, with the Astros and Rangers still locked together in a chase that has become hard to ignore. Houston has spent much of the year trying to separate itself from Texas, and every meaningful night elsewhere in baseball seems to carry a ripple effect for a division that refuses to settle.
One of the louder reminders came from the American Leagues other end of the standings, where White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery set the league strikeout record and helped underscore how unpredictable this season has been. Add in the Cubs, Guardians and White Sox already punching their postseason tickets, plus the Brewers reaching the 100-win mark and claiming the top playoff seed, and Houston's own race takes on even more urgency, especially with rookie Lucas Spence suddenly giving the Astros a fresh jolt after homering three times in one game. [Read more 🡒]