Astros 'fired up' to nab Texas Tech slugger Logan Hughes

ARLINGTON -- With their first two picks in Saturday’s MLB Draft, the Astros selected a pair of polished college players in Texas Tech outfielder Logan Hughes and Notre Dame right-hander Jack Radel they believe can move quickly through the system and make an impact on the Major League club.

Those were just two of five picks the Astros took on the first day of the Draft, with the Astros owning four picks inside the Top 100 and boasting their biggest bonus pool since 2015. It’s perhaps Houston’s most important Draft since that same year, when they took a pair of future stars in Alex Bregman at No. 2 overall and Kyle Tucker at No. 5.

If the Astros can get close to the same return on their first two picks this year, the Draft will be a success. Hughes was taken No. 17 overall and Radel was selected with No. 28 pick, a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick they received for Hunter Brown finishing third in the 2025 AL Cy Young voting.

Hughes, a left-handed hitter, can play the corner outfield spots and also will get some time at first base in the Houston system, said Astros amateur scouting director Cam Pendino. The No. 42 Draft prospect batted .375 with 18 home runs and 71 RBIs last season at Texas Tech and showed good plate discipline with 50 walks and only 33 strikeouts.

“We view him as one of the best bats in the Draft,” Pendino said. “For him to fall to pick 17, we were super fired up to take him there. It’s a really special blend of making high-quality contact, controlling the strike zone, limiting swing and miss. He really damages the fastball as well as anybody in the class. We think it’s a potential middle-of-the-order bat.”

The Astros scouted Hughes extensively throughout the course of the spring, and general manager Dana Brown saw him later in the spring when Texas Tech played Baylor in Waco, Texas. But where he really turned heads was at Houston’s pre-Draft workout at Daikin Park.

“He stood out for the bat, for his power with the wood in his hands, his feel for the barrel,” Pendino said. “It was super impressive. He lit us up.”

Radel, a 6-foot-5 right-hander from Sioux Falls, S.D., went 8-4 with a 3.29 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and .206 batting average against in 87 2/3 innings last season for Notre Dame, with 116 strikeouts and only 22 walks. He was ranked the No. 44 Draft prospect.

“Candidly, we didn’t think he was going to get down to 28, so when we got him there we were excited,” Pendino said. “The fastball is super loud and that’s the attraction here. He’s up to 98 [mph]. He was 94, 95 throughout the spring. He’s got excellent extension. It’s a loud fastball that’s going to get up on hitters. That blend of size, fastball quality and strikes was super exciting.”

Though Radel doesn't have a true plus offering and his pitch shapes are fairly ordinary, he succeeds because of his pitchability and competitiveness. Combining a high release point with good extension gives batters a different look and he pounds the strike zone. He's a high-floor starter who could fit into the middle of a rotation.

“To be honest, I have all the emotions in the world right now,” Radel said. “It’s overpowering joy. A chance to play in professional baseball is a dream come true. Playing for a franchise like Houston, it means something and there’s a lot of culture there and a lot of inspiration there, so it’s exciting.”

Notre Dame coach Shawn Stiffler called him a “self-made” pitcher, who wasn’t recruited highly out of South Dakota and basically came to South Bend with one pitch, a four-seam fastball that he didn’t know how to use. He developed a five-pitch mix and is able to throw them all with the same extension and tunnel them all very competitively.

“He’s a little bit of a throwback, an old-school starter,” Stiffler said. “He’s the kind of guy who says, ‘Hey, give me the ball and I’ll bring it back with me after the ninth inning.’ He really takes pride in logging innings. He really started to prepare himself to do just that, be an innings eater. He had goals that he wanted to pitch on Friday night in the ACC and he was able to do that.”