WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Astros don’t have a Top 100 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s preseason list for the third time in the last five seasons. Part of that is because of the club’s Major League success; Houston hasn’t had a top-15 Draft pick since 2017 (J.B. Bukauskas, 15th overall) and a top-five pick since 2015 (Alex Bregman, second, and Kyle Tucker, fifth).
But while there might be none in the Top 100 right now, there are at least three solid candidates with the potential to crack that overall list in 2026 in outfielder Kevin Alvarez, shortstop Xavier Neyens and outfielder Ethan Frey. All three are just getting to start their first stateside full Minor League seasons this spring.
COMPLETE ASTROS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Alvarez sits atop the Astros’ list now one year after signing for $2 million out of Cuba by way of the Dominican Republic. He didn’t need long to show off that his offensive game could translate easily into pro ball, as he posted a .301/.419/.455 line with two homers and a 131 wRC+ over 47 games in the Dominican Summer League in 2025. He was one of only eight qualified players aged 17 or younger who walked more than he struck out in the DSL while posting a K rate below 10 percent (9.9, in his case). He also checks in at 6-foot-3, giving him plenty of room to layer power on top of that plate discipline in the coming years.
The Astros are deciding how aggressive they can be with Alvarez in his first stateside season, although they tipped their hands this weekend when the 18-year-old played all nine innings in the outfield corners in his Grapefruit League debut Sunday.
“I'd say we ease them in, but with Kevin, he's made himself very comfortable in a really good way,” said Astros director of player development Sam Niedorf. “He's 18 years old, but he carries himself like he's been an eight-year big leaguer. It's pretty impressive to watch.
“The stuff you see on the field is one thing, but what goes on behind closed doors is another: the routine in the training room, the routine in the weight room, his nutritional habits, the discipline, being the first one in every single day, being the last one to leave. He's a very special player, and he's probably a more special individual.”
Last year’s 21st overall pick Neyens has even more power potential than his fellow left-handed slugger and showed plus-plus raw pop coming out of Mount Vernon High School in Washington state last year. Comparisons to Joey Gallo are plentiful with the strength in his swing, but Neyens could have a better hit tool if he irons out some of the mechanics in his swing and improves his bat path.
Just as big a question for the 6-foot-3 infielder comes on the defensive side. Because of Neyens’ below-average speed and plus arm strength, many evaluators have pegged him as a future third baseman, but the Astros hope they can help him stick at shortstop. They’re helping that pursuit by feeding him a steady diet of Corey Seager defensive highlights to illustrate how a bigger body can work at the six.
“How he uses his feet, how he works around the base, what double play turns and feeds look like from Seager, we're trying to replicate that with Xavier,” Niedorf said. “But the work ethic, the discipline, the power, the bat speed, it’s tools galore for him.”
Finally, Frey can marry some of the best concepts of both Alvarez and Neyens. Houston measured his bat speed as the best in last year’s Draft class, and after two years of limited playing time at LSU, he showed what that swing can do last spring when he slashed .331/.420/.641 for the eventual national champions.
At 6-foot-4, he has an inch on both Alvarez and Neyens – and SEC experience on top of that – and he moves well enough for his size that Houston plans to start him as a center fielder in his first full season. While that position adds some extra ceiling to his profile, so much will come down to just how quickly he moves the bat.
“We're seeing that every day in the back field,” Niedorf said. “We've been seeing it in Major League games when he's backed up. For us, it's just about maintenance. We don't need to take it from here to here. What we need is to continue to maintain where it's at. It's above Major League average right now. We don't want that to start to slide.”
Out of the three, Alvarez still seems most likely to join the Top 100 first. If he continues to carry his DSL showing through this stateside spring and into the regular season at the Florida Complex League or Single-A Fayetteville, he’s one Astros prospect -- one of at least three -- who could go supernova in 2026.
“I think he's gonna force [our] hand,” he said. “What we've seen in the back fields, he has eight home runs right now. He's putting up really good at-bats. We're trying to keep ourselves patient, myself included, but I think he's gonna force us.”
Camp standout: Walker Janek
The 28th overall pick in 2024 entered pro ball out of Sam Houston State with a strong defensive reputation, especially for his plus-plus arm, and he backed that up with a 31 percent caught-stealing rate with High-A Asheville in his first full season. It’s continued to be evident this spring, with Janek throwing out two of four attempted baserunners in Grapefruit League play while recording two of Houston’s three fastest pop times on throws to second base, including the best at 1.79 seconds (per Statcast).
But after modest offensive success in the South Atlantic and Arizona Fall Leagues last season, Janek has also shown out with the bat this spring, going 5-for-11 (.455) with a homer and two doubles in seven games. Five of his seven batted-ball events have exceeded 95 mph exit velocities for a small-sample hard-hit rate of 71.4 percent.
But as good as he’s been in the box, he still draws the best reviews for his work behind it.
“He's a true Major League catcher,” Niedorf said. “The offense is improving, which is exciting, but how he prepares the arm, how he takes care of his staff, how he sees the game from a catcher's perspective, it's truly like having a second pitching coach on the field, which is special.”
Breakout candidate: Anthony Huezo
Ranked as the Astros’ No. 19 prospect, Huezo was limited to only 67 Minor League games last season due to hamate surgery early in the year, and 43 of those came in the FCL. Needing an opportunity to make up at-bats and show what his hands could do when healthy, the left-handed-hitting outfielder headed to the Australian Baseball League in the offseason and led the Down Under circuit with a 1.031 OPS and ranked second in all three slash-line categories (.340/.443/.588) over 29 games for Sydney.
To take off truly in ‘26, the 2023 12th-rounder will have to overcome his willingness to expand the zone and his aversion to non-fastballs, but with another year removed from the hamate issues, he’s routinely popped near the top of Astros internal leaderboards for damage with his swings this spring.
Spring Breakout sleeper: Max Holy
The Astros will host the Marlins on Thursday to begin Spring Breakout play in Florida, and when Houston’s preliminary Breakout roster was released, there might have been a surprise among the seven infielders in Holy, who signed as an undrafted free agent out of Division II Central Missouri in July 2024. He stole 40 bases over 94 games between Single-A and High-A last season but struggled to make contact with a 31.2 percent K rate, despite swinging at only 32.7 percent of his pitches seen.
Beyond the wheels, he is a strong defender up the middle with experience at both shortstop and second base, and this spring, he’s popped on some of those same internal metrics like Huezo in a way that is commanding attention across the Houston back fields.
“The speed has been a nice pleasant surprise for me,” Niedorf said. “The offensive side has been a nice pleasant surprise too, and he's made his way to the top of some of those leaderboards.”