It may not seem like much, but #21 is the earliest the Astros have picked since drafting UNC righty J.B. Bukauskas with the #15 pick way back in 2017. Beginning with first rounder Xavier Neyens, they went after a power-heavy class that could bring some fireworks to Daikin Park in the future. Lacking a second round pick after signing Christian Walker this offseason, they did lack draft capital and Neyens represented their only seven figure bonus. In all, it's an interesting class with a lot of outlier traits that the Astros will try work off, making for a very Astros-like draft.
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Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-21: SS Xavier Neyens, Mount Vernon HS [WA]
Slot value: $4.12 million. Signing bonus: $4.12 million ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #19. MLB Pipeline: #25. Baseball America: #19.
With their earliest pick in nearly a decade, the Astros brought on a hitter who has a chance for the biggest bat in the class when all is said and done. Xavier Neyens has long been a famous name on the showcase circuit and at times rivaled Ethan Holliday at the top of the prep class in early projections, and while he wound up more of a mid to back of the first round prospect by the time the draft rolled around, he remains one of the most dangerous teenage hitters in the country. Already ultra physical at 6'4", 210 pounds, he's going to get even bigger as he continues to pack on strength and he's a great athlete for his size, too. Of course, he stands out for his plus-plus raw power that he taps effortlessly in games with a violent, leveraged, and controlled left handed swing that puts the ball in the air consistently. He flat out refuses to chase even quality breaking balls and velocity, forcing pitchers to attack him in the zone at their own risk. There were times where he got too passive and let hittable pitches go by, which at times got him in trouble in deeper counts when quality arms could make quality pitches and get him out. There are also some questions about pure bat to ball, as he swung and missed in the strike zone more than evaluators would like to see for a first round prospect. Still, because he's not chasing, he's on base a ton to complement his power. The Astros drafted Neyens as a shortstop, though that's a bit of wishful thinking. He's more athletic than most players his size, but third base seems like the best case scenario with just decent lateral quickness. He's pretty smooth on the balls he does get to and has a plus arm that helped him run his fastball up to 96 on the mound, so as long as he maintains his shape, he should stick on the left side of the infield. If not, the Washington native has plenty of bat to profile at first base. There are serious parallels to Nick Kurtz in this profile, as a big bodied, athletic, slugging left handed bat with a corner defensive profile, though Neyens could stick at third while Kurtz plays a mean first base. He had been committed to Oregon State.
3-95: OF Ethan Frey, Louisiana State
Slot value: $803,900. Signing bonus: $997,500 ($193,600 above slot value).
My rank: #158. MLB Pipeline: #119. Baseball America: #317.
Ethan Frey is a semi-local kid who grew up less than three hours from Houston in the tiny town of Rosepine, Louisiana, just fifteen miles off the Texas border where his parents work at nearby Fort Polk. He's a bit of a polarizing prospect for which opinions vary widely – Baseball America has him outside of the top 300, MLB Pipeline is the highest on him at #119, and the Astros not only drafted him inside the top 100 but for an over slot bonus befitting of the #81 overall pick. You see that often with high school players, but those discrepancies are less common at the college level. Frey certainly brings with him a big time profile. He played sparingly over his first two seasons at LSU, batting just .237/.307/.289 with zero home runs in 53 games, mostly off the bench, but exploded to hit .331/.420/641 with thirteen home runs as a junior in 2025. Listed at an imposing 6'6", 225 pounds, the ball jumps off his bat for plus raw power that he finally began tapping in 2025. He's a patient hitter that runs into some swing and miss in the zone (sound familiar?) but held his own against high level pitching in the SEC, giving confidence that the bat will translate to pro ball. Frey played quarterback at Rosepine High School back in the Piney Woods and moves very well for his size, with some getting above average reads on his speed. He did miss time with labrum surgery and it's unknown how much of his previously strong arm will return. He was buried on the LSU defensive depth chart with big time names like Derek Curiel, Chris Stanfield, Jake Brown, and Josh Pearson locking down most of the time in the Tigers outfield, leaving Frey in a DH role for much of the season. With his speed, there are some optimistic evaluators who see Frey as a center fielder, and those who believe his arm strength will come back could see him as an above average right fielder as well. Given the nearly million dollar bonus they handed him, I would think the Astros are fully bought into the physical side and see Frey as a fully healthy, high level athlete in a 6'6" package.
4-126: IF Nick Monistere, Southern Miss
Slot value: $594,500. Signing bonus: $397,500 ($197,000 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #425.
Sticking in the Gulf Coast region, the Astros hopped over to Southern Miss to grab Nick Monistere for a below slot bonus that almost perfectly pays for Ethan Frey's over slot payday. Initially a two-way player when he came to Southern Miss, he gave up pitching after nine innings for the Golden Eagles as a freshman in 2023 and fully broke out with a huge 2025 season that netted him Sun Belt Player of the Year honors. Though he is not huge at a listed 6', 190 pounds, much smaller than the two draftees ahead of him here, he was able to turn around 21 home runs in 63 games in 2025 with a pull-oriented, leveraged swing and above average raw power. He really extends well through the baseball and should get to all of his raw power in games in pro ball, giving him the shot to hit 15-20 home runs per season and perhaps pop for more if he reaches his absolute ceiling. Before doing that, he will need to clean up the hit tool a little bit with an aggressive approach and average bat to ball skills, with some questions against spin that will need to be addressed against better pitching. Sun Belt pitching is nothing to sneeze at and he performed well there, hitting .323 with a .410 on-base percentage and limiting his strikeout rate to a reasonable 17.7%, but the pitching will get more and more relentless as he moves up the latter. Controlling the strike zone and recognizing spin a bit better will go a long way. Defensively, Monistere could end up at any number of positions. He bounced around the diamond over his first two seasons in Hattiesburg before settling in as the every day second baseman in 2025, giving him many options going forward. He's probably not polished or quick enough to play shortstop, but he does have a strong arm and can get around a little bit, making both second and third base an option. He has also seen time in the outfield, but Houston will hope the Jackson-area native can stick in the dirt.
5-156: RHP Nick Potter, Wichita State
Slot value: $443,100. Signing bonus: $336,600 ($106,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Nick Potter brings as big a right arm as you're going to find outside the top couple rounds. He began his career at Crowder JC, then after two years transferred to Wichita State. Pitching exclusively out of the bullpen, he was a shutdown arm for the Shockers highlighted by some excellent outings down the stretch. He's a fireballer through and through. Potter's fastball sits mid to upper 90's and touches triple digits at peak, coming in with explosive life to miss bats at rates rarely seen from a fastball. He primarily pitches off the heater, challenging hitters in the zone and just blowing it by them down the middle or wherever it ends up. The Kansas City-area native also snaps off a slider with some promise, with his best flashing above average in the upper 80's with hard biting action, though it can be inconsistent and flatten out regularly. Still, even his worst breaking balls are upper 80's cement mixers against hitters gearing up for triple digits so it's not like they're just floating in there. Potter does have below average command, which combined with the two pitch mix likely precludes him from ever starting in pro ball. The 6'4" righty is ultra athletic on the mound with excellent extension, making his fastball play up further and giving him tremendous ceiling. There are closers out there like Mason Miller and Jhoan Duran who admittedly have better stuff and command, but if you were drawing up those profiles at this stage of their career, Potter's not too far off. If he can get more consistent with his slider and sharpen up his command a little bit, closer upside is not out of the question, especially if the Astros can mold this ball of clay further.
7-216: C Jase Mitchell, Cape Henlopen HS [DE]
Slot value: $267,700. Signing bonus: $797,500 ($529,800 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #246. Baseball America: #467.
The Eastern Shore doesn't produce a ton of talent, with the only recent highlights perhaps being former Pirates starter Ian Snell and reliever Tyler Webb until brothers Zack and Jake Gelof turned standout careers at Delaware's Cape Henlopen High School into standout UVA careers into both being 60th overall picks. Zack is now with the A's and Jase Mitchell is looking to follow his footsteps from Cape Henlopen to the bigs (I too played a few games at Cape Henlopen as a kid but alas here I am writing about it, not in the bigs). Mitchell brings the kind of left handed power you don't see often from catchers. He has a big 6'3" frame with long arms and legs, oozing projection as he looks to add thirty-plus pounds in pro ball. He already hits for plus power with a violent left handed swing producing tremendous force, sending baseballs impressive distances when he connects. He is certainly hit over power, and that is what kept him lower down on most prospect boards. There are questions both about his approach and his pure bat to ball, with long levers and a lack of facing top pitching in a place they call Slower Lower Delaware. Meanwhile, there are questions about his defense as well. Like most lanky catchers, he's still learning to fold up back there while still remaining spry enough to pounce on balls in the dirt. A big arm does help his case to remain a catcher. Between the hit tool and the defense, this is certainly a boom or bust profile, but the Astros clearly believe in at least one if not both and see a future power hitting catcher. Previously committed to Kentucky, he instead signed for top-100 money here in the seventh round.
8-246: 2B Kyle Walker, Arizona State
Slot value: $219,800. Signing bonus: $152,500 ($67,300 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Kyle Walker gives the Astros a second Louisianan. A native of Harvey, a southern suburb of New Orleans, he attended Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie and began his college career at Louisiana Tech. After spending his freshman season on the bench, he transferred just ten minutes down the road to Grambling State and immediately established himself as one of the best hitters in the SWAC, earning a second opportunity to transfer to Arizona State two years later. Unfazed by the jump in competition, he still hit .352/.449/.546 with more walks than strikeouts as the Sun Devils' every day second baseman. Undersized at 5'9", he packs a punch in the box with a quick, adjustable right handed swing that produces hard contact around the field and enough pop to turn on home runs to the pull side. He controls the strike zone extremely well, fouling off tough pitches and refusing to strike out. Defensively, Walker shows plus speed and can get to balls all around his position, though he lacks the big arm for the left side of the infield and will fit at second base going forward. If he can continue tapping some pop with wood bats, there is upside here as a part time infielder, though his utility infield value is hurt by the lack of arm strength. Walker was a senior sign who will turn 23 over the offseason.
12-366: OF Elijah Farley, Navarro HS [TX]
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $150,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
It's not often that a high school player signs for $150,000, but it appears the Astros and Elijah Farley were a tremendous fit and Farley will play for Houston rather follow through on his commitment to Hill JC. The only Texan in this Astros draft class, Farley grew up in the suburbs of New Braunfels and spent the first three years of high school career at Canyon High School. He then transferred to Navarro High School between New Braunfels and Seguin for his senior year. Farley brings huge upside, but just as much risk. He's a lanky 6'4" with excellent twitch and athleticism, enabling him to shine on the basketball court as well as the mound. He'll be developed as a hitter, where he brings above average power from the left side that could easily get to plus with added strength. There is big bat speed that will play as he streamlines that swing, giving the Astros plenty to develop. The hit tool is more unproven, as he hasn't seen a lot of top pitching and wasn't active on the main showcase circuit last summer. The jump from Central Texas high school ball to the pros will be steep, so he will likely move slowly as the Astros turn him into a pro ballplayer. With plus speed and a plus arm that has been up to 94 on the mound, he has a chance to be a plus defensive outfielder with further refinement. There is huge upside here that will take a lot of work and time to bring out, and Farley is old for a graduating senior having turned 19 back in May.
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