Sunday, May 17

Welcome back to the Astros Beat newsletter! Reporter Jim Callis put together the lead item in this edition.

With the Minor League season opening this week, here's where the Astros' Top 30 Prospects are projected to start:

1. Kevin Alvarez, OF -- Fayetteville (Single-A)

2. Xavier Neyens, SS -- Fayetteville (Single-A)

3. Ethan Frey, OF -- Asheville (High-A)

4. Brice Matthews, 2B -- Houston (MLB)

5. Walker Janek, C -- Corpus Christi (Double-A)

6. Bryce Mayer, RHP -- Corpus Christi (Double-A)

7. Ethan Pecko, RHP -- Injured (thoracic outlet syndrome)

8. AJ Blubaugh, RHP -- Houston (MLB)

9. Ryan Forcucci, RHP -- Injured (lower back)

10. Albert Fermín, SS -- Extended spring training (Dominican Republic)

11. Zach Cole, OF -- Sugar Land (Triple-A)

12. Lucas Spence, OF -- Corpus Christi (Double-A)

13. Miguel Ullola, RHP -- Sugar Land (Triple-A)

14. Joseph Sullivan, OF -- Corpus Christi (Double-A)

15. James Hicks, RHP -- Corpus Christi (Double-A)

16. Jackson Nezuh, RHP -- Corpus Christi (Double-A)

17. Alonzo Tredwell, RHP -- Injured (shoulder strain)

18. Alimber Santa, RHP -- Sugar Land (Triple-A)

19. Anthony Huezo, OF -- Fayetteville (Single-A)

20. Will Bush, C/1B -- Corpus Christi (Double-A)

21. Anthony Millan, OF -- Extended spring training (Dominican Republic)

22. Jase Mitchell, C -- Extended spring training

23. Cole Hertzler, RHP -- Asheville (High-A)

24. Jose Fleury, RHP -- Sugar Land (Triple-A)

25. Parker Smith, RHP -- Asheville (High-A)

26. Hudson Leach, RHP -- Sugar Land (Triple-A)

27. Caden Powell, OF -- Asheville (High-A)

28. Ramsey David, RHP -- Corpus Christi (Double-A)

29. Nick Potter, RHP -- Fayetteville (Single-A)

30. Gabel Pentecost, RHP -- Fayetteville (Single-A)

Team to watch

The Astros' top two prospects, outfielder Kevin Alvarez and shortstop Xavier Neyens, will team up at Single-A Fayetteville. Outfielder Anthony Huezo has some of the best tools in the system, and he's coming off a huge winter in which he led the Australian Baseball League with a 1.031 OPS. A pair of interesting 2025 Draft picks, right-handers Nick Potter (fifth round) and Gabel Pentecost (sixth), headline the Woodpeckers' pitching staff.

Players we could see in MLB in 2026

Outfielder Zach Cole compiled an .880 OPS with four homers in 15 games with the Astros last September, though an errant pitch broke a toe on his right foot during a Triple-A game on Sunday, sidelining him indefinitely. Right-handers Miguel Ullola and Alimber Santa each has a nasty fastball and a solid secondary offering, so both could help Houston's bullpen this season. So could righty Hudson Leach, who owns one of the best curveballs in the Minors.

New faces
Neyens, Potter and Pentecost are all making their pro debuts at Fayetteville, while fellow 2025 draftee Jase Mitchell (seventh round) will do so in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League in May. Right-hander Ryan Forcucci, who hasn't pitched in an official game since blowing out his pitching elbow at UC San Diego in March 2024, should finally do so later this month after he clears up some lower-back issues. Signed for $2,147,500 in January, Dominican shortstop Albert Fermín is slated for the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League in June.

On the shelf
Right-hander Ethan Pecko is coming back from thoracic outlet syndrome and, like Forcucci, should be ready to pitch in games in April. Righty Alonzo Tredwell is out with a strained shoulder, and the timetable for his return is uncertain.

How to watch
Fans can watch Minor League Baseball games for free on the Bally Sports Live app or at BallySports.com. Fans may also purchase an MLB+ subscription, which includes access to MiLB games live and on demand, in addition to live MLB audio for all 30 teams, MLB Network and MLB Big Inning. Plus -- with or without a subscription -- Minor League games featuring MLB's top prospects are available in the MiLB Free Game of the Day.

April 5, 1976 -- The first professional baseball game is played in the Superdome in New Orleans when the Astros and Twins played an exhibition game before 10,073 fans. New Orleans had hoped to showcase the new facility in hopes of landing an expansion team, but Toronto and Seattle were awarded franchises for the 1977 season.

Shay Whitcomb really likes surfing. Joey Loperfido really likes the No. 10 jersey number. So when Loperfido was traded from the Blue Jays back to the Astros earlier this spring, he texted Whitcomb and asked what he wanted in exchange for him giving him the No. 10.

“He said a surfboard,” Loperfido said. “It was a specific kind. He explained it to me. It’s something about like the sides of it, so it makes it like very dynamic on the wave. He’s a really good surfer and that’s the board he wanted, so we ordered it in Spring Training and it shipped from somewhere in California [to Houston].”

Loperfido wore No. 10 when he made his Major League debut with the Astros in 2024 and kept the number while with the Blue Jays last year.

“The continuity of it was cool and so my girlfriend, my mom, my grandma and my sister and everybody doesn’t have to rebuy jean jackets [with another number],” Loperfido said.

Whitcomb had worn No. 10 since breaking into the big leagues in 2024, but will wear No. 14 in the big leagues this season. Loperfido said the surfboard and the shipping set him back about $1,400.

“If he said ‘Get me two surfboards,’ I would have gotten him two surfboards,” Loperfido said.

And Whitcomb said he would have given him back the No. 10 for nothing.

“I was planning on giving it to him the whole time,” Whitcomb said. "He knows how big of a surfer I am, so he wanted to do something cool for me. If you know me, that’s a perfect gift for me.”

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