This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart's Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
HOUSTON -- Shortly after selecting LSU’s Ethan Frey in the third round of the 2025 MLB Draft, Astros scouting director Cam Pendino described the 6-foot-6 outfielder as having some “big-boy juice.” He hit 13 homers, helping LSU win the College World Series and on Thursday connected for his first professional homer for Single-A Fayetteville.
“Was glad to get it out of the way,” Frey said Friday.
The Astros hope that’s just the start of Frey’s power surge. Frey, who’s the Astros’ No. 9-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline, was Houston’s second pick in the Draft following first-rounder Xavier Neyens, a high-school shortstop from the Seattle area (No. 3 prospect).
Frey comes to the Astros with a championship, having won two Class 2A Louisiana state high school titles and two College World Series titles in three years at LSU. He’s built to hit for power, with a strong right-handed stroke and the ability to drive the ball out of the park.
“Obviously, the college season was something I’ll forever remember and then winning it all was a great memory, and the Draft came around and now I’m playing professional baseball,” he said. “This is definitely the life I signed up for. I don’t have any regrets.”
Ranked as the No. 1 catcher in the state while playing at Rosepine High School, Frey made the transition to the outfield but was primarily a DH as a junior at LSU. The Astros are trying him out in center field, while exposing him to the corner outfield spots, too.
“We’re basically going to treat him as a center fielder like we treat all our outfielders until he shows us that he can’t,” senior director of player development and performance science Jacob Buffa said. “He looks really good for someone who really never played the position before. He’s so athletic. He’s got really good make-up speed and top-end speed and his reads off the bat are certainly well above where I anticipated they would be at this point.”
Through his first 16 professional games, Frey was slashing .263/.397/.386 with four doubles, one homer and 11 RBIs with 14 walks and 14 strikeouts. At LSU, he hit .331 with 15 doubles, a triple, 13 homers, 50 RBIs and 43 runs, including leading the team in runs scored in the College World Series.
“The ceiling for his bat, I really think, is as high as any hitters from the Draft, honestly,” Buffa said. “He was a top performer at a national championship school last [season]. He’s come in and picked up right where he left off. It’s a combination of on-base and slug.”
This time of year is a grind for Draft picks who are in professional ball for the first time. They’re playing six days a week for the first time, plus Frey’s college season went deep into June with a run to the national championship. He’s also playing more defense than he has in quite a while, so it’s natural to be a bit tired.
“It’s been fun just kind of grinding and fighting every day,” he said.
Here's a look around the rest of the Minor League system:
Triple-A Sugar Land
Second baseman Brice Matthews, the Astros’ top prospect who walloped three home runs in two games in Arizona in July in his first taste of the big leagues, has a strong case for being named the Astros’ Minor League Player of the Year at the end of the season. He was slashing .273/.381/.477 in 88 games at Triple-A Sugar Land, with 17 doubles, 13 homers, 30 steals and 47 RBIs.
“Brice Matthews really has to jump off the page, just considering he was drafted two years ago and we pushed him pretty quickly,” Buffa said. “I think through this year he’s shown already that he’s as good a hitter in the PCL [Pacific Coast League] as there is, which is very rare to find from someone who also plays up the middle in the dirt. Brice has been very, very exciting."
Meanwhile, right-hander Miguel Ullola (Astros’ No. 5) could be the favorite for Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He has a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings with 109 strikeouts and 68 walks. He has the best fastball in the Houston system and has struck out 27.5 percent of the batters he’s faced.
“Although he’s had some ups and downs, what Ullola has done, especially as far as the strikeout rates go, it’s extremely exciting,” Buffa said.
Double-A Corpus Christi
Luis Baez was the team’s No. 12-ranked prospect prior to the season but dropped to No. 22 in the midseason re-rank. He didn’t play in games until June, as the Astros wanted him to focus on improving his defense under game pressure. His bat remains elite: He’s slashing .417/.488/.583 in August.
“I don’t think we ever questioned if the bat was there,” Buffa said. “When we kept him out of competition to focus on the defense, we knew there would be a little bit of a ramp-up period, getting back into games. I think he’s got over that period and now he’s showing us exactly what type of hitter we knew he could be -- the same hitter that hit 20-plus home runs in High-A as a 20-year-old and dominated the rookie ball league as a 19-year-old. I think we’re seeing the type of hitter that we know that Luis Baez is.”
High-A Asheville
Catcher Walker Janek (Astros’ No. 4 prospect) has put together a solid first full professional year, slashing .261/.335/.441 with 11 homers, 38 RBIs and 26 stolen bases in 79 games. He’s a big-time arm, but his framing and blocking are progressing nicely, along with his ability to handle pitchers, which is something the Astros value highly.
“It’s been a really good offensive season on top of what we know he can do defensively,” Buffa said.