Friday, October 17

HOUSTON -- As the Astros' front office continues to map out a plan for the club to return to postseason contention next year, the farm system has some promising talent that’s on the horizon and could help secure the club’s long-term future as a contender.

Here’s a Minor League report in 3, 2, 1…

Three players who forced their way onto the radar this year

RHP Bryce Mayer (No. 11): Mayer, a 16th-round pick out of Missouri in 2024, went 4-6 with 4.11 ERA in 21 appearances (16 starts) last season between Single-A Fayetteville, High-A Asheville and Double-A Corpus Christi. He had 112 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings, a 1.17 WHIP and a .227 opponents’ batting average.

“Performance-wise, the execution of his pitches is well above where his professional experience would place most players,” Astros senior director of player development and performance science Jacob Buffa said. “It’s a very quality fastball that he’s in-zone with quite a bit, and he’s got command of two breaking balls. [He's] still polishing the command of the curveball, but he was able to execute those pitches at a high rate.”

OF Lucas Spence (No. 21): An undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in 2024, the left-handed-hitting Spence slashed .244/.368/.403 across three levels in his first full season of professional baseball in ’25. He hit 10 homers with 55 RBIs and 27 stolen bases, and he finished the season with a .775 OPS in 30 games with Corpus Christi.

“He showed a lot of survival skills, bat-to-ball skills, good swing decisions, good approach in Fayetteville,” Buffa said. “He got to Asheville and made an adjustment to find more barrels and started to slug, and that continued on through Asheville to the point where he forced his way into the Double-A outfield.”

RHP Hudson Leach: Leach, a 2023 undrafted free agent from Miami (Ohio), posted a 5.54 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 39 innings at four levels this year, beginning in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League and peaking in Triple-A Sugar Land. He has had three elbow surgeries in his past, but he can run his fastball up to 99 mph and flashes  a plus slider in the upper 80s.

“The big thing with Hudson was he added almost four mph with his fastball over the offseason and really dominated as a reliever all year long,” Buffa said.

Two possible breakout players to watch in 2026

RHP Ryan Forcucci (No. 10): Forcucci got a $1 million signing bonus as a 2024 third-round pick out of UC San Diego, but he underwent Tommy John surgery June 5, 2024, and has yet to throw a professional pitch. That will change next season when he comes to camp healthy. Forcucci's fastball sits at 92-95 mph and touches 97 mph, and his mid-80s slider grades as a plus pitch.

“Obviously, very, very talented and this will be the first season we’ll get to see him from day one,” Buffa said. “I think he’s one of the top guys of my mind in terms of [being] primed for a great season in ’26.”

RHP Joan Ogando: Signed out of the Dominican Republic in January 2023, Ogando spent the entire 2025 season at Fayetteville, and he posted a 4.07 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a .170 opponents’ batting average in 25 games (13 starts). He struck out 113 batters in 95 innings, keeping in line with his 10.94 K/9 ratio in 145 2/3 professional innings.

“He struck out the world in 2024 and we moved him to Fayetteville, where the walks crept up on him,” Buffa said. “This year, the walks were an issue, but really righties had no chance against him. He has some of the best spin weapons I’ve seen in Fayetteville -- just a matter [of] if he gets in zone with them. If it does click with him, Ogando’s name will shoot up people’s boards.”

One big question for next season

Which pitcher is going to take the leap to front-line starter?

The Astros drafted and developed one of baseball’s top young starters in Hunter Brown, and they are looking for their next up-and-coming ace from a group of prospects that includes right-handers Miguel Ullola (No. 5), Anderson Brito (No. 7), Mayer, Ethan Pecko (No. 12) and Jackson Nezuh (No. 14), all of whom were in Double-A or above last year.

“The Astros have made their money off of finding these guys and getting them to the big leagues over the last five or six years,” said Buffa, referencing a group that includes Spencer Arrighetti, Ryan Gusto, A.J. Blubaugh and Brown.

Oct. 15, 1986

In one of the most thrilling games in playoff history, the Mets eliminated the Astros, winning 7-6 in 16 innings in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series in the Astrodome. That came after Billy Hatcher tied the game with a homer off the left-field foul pole in the bottom of the 14th.

“Looking back on it, I was running around the bases, and it was so loud you couldn’t hear yourself think,” Hatcher said. “I don’t think my feet hit the ground. It was a special moment.”

The exhilaration didn’t last too much longer for the Astros, who watched the Mets score three times in the 16th inning to take a 7-4 lead. The Astros rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the 16th, including an RBI single by Hatcher, but Jesse Orosco struck out Kevin Bass swinging to end Houston’s magical season.

“We should have won,” Hatcher said. “It wasn’t just that one game; I think it was the whole series. That was probably one of the best series in baseball ever. Both teams left everything they had out on the field. There was no second-guessing anything that you did because you left everything you had out there on the field. It was two good teams going at each other, and they ended up being World [Series] champions.”

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