Houston, the future is rising at Single-A.
A trio of Astros prospects -- including two ranked inside the MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list -- launched homers consecutively in Fayetteville's 9-1 rout of Delmarva on Tuesday at Segra Stadium. The big league club did the same in Toronto.
With a four-run lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Anthony Huezo stepped into the box. The Astros' No. 17 prospect greeted righty reliever Jason Shockley (Orioles) by driving the third pitch of the at-bat over the left-field wall.
"Clearly, he has damage to go to all fields," Woodpeckers' hitting coach Steve Serratore said of the left-handed-hitting outfielder. "When that swing happened, I thought it was just an embodiment of the work he's putting in to try to commit to his plan, to stay to his approach. ... When his swing is good, he has that ability, and the natural power and bat speed he has, it's quite ridiculous."
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Huezo paved the way for MLB's No. 94 prospect and 2025 first-rounder Xavier Neyens. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound slugger jumped on Shockley's hanging breaking ball and cranked a booming shot at 104 mph off the bat to right for his 10th long ball of the season.
"He's a student of the game," Serratore said. "He has had moments throughout the year that he hasn't been as successful, but it's never been because he doesn't know what he wants to do. He's just trying to find the right connection between his body and his approach, and tonight was another great example of the things he's been working on. I'm trying to get him to expand a little bit more, be a little bit more aggressive."
The Astros' second-ranked prospect, Neyens has gone yard in back-to-back games. Across his past 10 contests, the 65-grade power-hitting outfielder has a 1.151 OPS with eight RBIs and 16 walks to 12 strikeouts.
"It's flabbergasting," Serratore said about Neyens' approach. "He has a tremendous feel for the zone. We've been pushing for him to continue to trust his instincts to swing. ... It's going to be scary when he starts to really figure out, because of how good of an eye he already has. When he starts to develop that freedom of, 'Hey, this isn't exactly perfect, but I know I can still hammer it.' When that continues to become consistent, it's going to be ultra scary."
Kevin Alvarez followed up with his sixth homer of the season, while lining the fourth pitch of his at-bat over the right-center field wall. The Astros' top prospect then celebrated so enthusiastically that he knocked his helmet out of place before rounding second base.
"The kid loves to hit, he loves to swing, sometimes a little too much," Serratore said of the 18-year-old outfielder. "His greatest weapon, but also sometimes a little bit of his kryptonite, is that he knows he can hit a lot of pitches, and to get him to know, 'Hey, what are pitches I can hit hard and do some damage on,' he did that tremendously tonight."
Trackman marked Alvarez's homer at 109 mph off the bat with a 20-degree launch angle.
"Just a laser," Serratore added of the shot by MLB's No. 75 prospect.
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Alvarez, who moved stateside for his second professional season in 2026, has already surpassed his career high in games (47) from the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League last year. Across 51 contests at Single-A, the Cuban-born lefty has compiled a slash line of .261/.319/.430.
"He's full of energy. I call him 'The Kid' all the time because he is still a child," Serratore laughed. "In terms of his competitiveness and his confidence to not shy away from moments, but to relish in it, that's really dang special."
While the future Astros took the spotlight at the lowest full-season level of affiliated ball, the big league club did likewise on back-to-back-to-back homers by Yainer Diaz, Cam Smith and Taylor Trammell during a 9-7 win over the Blue Jays.