Astros Countdown: Top Five Untouchable Prospects

There is a lot of good, young talent in the Astros system. 

With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, one of the main reasons why the Houston Astros are in the middle of it is because of their deep minor league system. However, some players are integral to the future success of this team. Here are the five players that they Astros should avoid dealing before July 31^st.

Garrett Stubbs

With two catchers on the major league team over the age of 30, the Astros may be looking for someone behind the plate sooner than later. That is where Garrett Stubbs would come in.

Drafted in the eighth round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of USC, the 24-year-old has been manning the catcher’s role at Double-A Corpus Christi for parts of the last two seasons. In 97 games in 2016 and 2017 with the Hooks, the Astros’ No. 11 overall prospect according to MLB.com has a .268 batting average with a .753 OPS.

Ever since he was in college, Stubbs was not your prototypical catcher behind the plate. With only a 5’10”, 175-pound frame, he is more of a contact first type of bat. In four years at USC, Stubbs had only two career home runs.

Those numbers increased when he entered the Astros organization, putting together a career high .517 slugging percentage in his 31 game-stint with the Hooks in 2016. Stubbs does have some gap power. In the last two seasons, a total of 152 games, he has hit 34 doubles for both Corpus Christi and Single-A Lancaster.

What the Astros like about Stubbs is his patience at the plate. This season, he has a walk percentage of 10.5 percent while striking out only 12.7 percent of the time.

His size may be a factor on the defensive side. So far, Stubbs has caught a career high 479.2 innings this season. He has a very good .994 fielding percentage, but struggle to throw runners out, allowing 20 stolen bases on 31 attempts so far in 2017.

With both Evan Gattis and Brian McCann under contract, Stubbs has some time to improve in the minor leagues. However, expect Stubbs to be on the Astros radar in the next couple of years.

Forrest Whitley

The job of a former first round draft pick is a big one. For Forrest Whitley, the Astros’ No. 5 prospect and the No. 71 prospect in baseball according to MLB.com, he has to overcome that as well as coming into the big leagues right out of high school.

So far, in his first full season in the Astros organization, he has been very impressive. Whitley started the season at Single-A Quad Cities where he posted a 2.91 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in 12 appearances, including ten starts. Using a mid-nineties fastball, a power curveball, and a very good changeup according to MLB.com, the 19-year-old right-hander struck out 34.4 percent of all batters faced.

With those numbers, the Astros promoted Whitley to Single-A (Adv) Buies Creek on July 2^nd. His first three starts with the Astros have not been much of an issue. He has a record of 2-0 with a 0.57 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP. With a .151 batting average against, he has 24 strikeouts in 15.1 innings of work while only walking two batters.

As a big and young right-handed pitcher right out of high school, the Astros have the pitching depth in the system to be able to wait for him to develop more over the next few years. However, with the numbers he is putting up in the beginning levels of the minor league system, it would not be surprising to see Whitley develop faster than normal.

Kyle Tucker

Although it is harder for pitchers, any player that is drafted right out of high school has a long road ahead of them in the minor league system. Kyle Tucker, the fifth overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft has proved that statement wrong.

Tucker started the season at Single-A (Adv) Buies Creek and tore it up. In 48 games, the 20-year-old outfielder hit .288 with a .932 OPS. He had 25 extra base hits, including nine home runs, and drove in 43 RBIs.

By the end of May, Tucker was on his way to Double-A Corpus Christi. Since then he has kept up his torrid offensive pace, with a .301 batting average and a .908 OPS through 36 games. However, he has struggled with injuries since his call up. Tucker is currently on the 7-day disabled list with a back injury.

Even with the increasing strikeout percentage, Tucker is a well-rounded hitter at the plate. He has had a slugging percentage over .500 for his last three stops in the Astros minor league system.

Tucker is well liked across baseball. According to many analysts, he could have been the main piece of a blockbuster trade that would send an ace-like starter to the Astros. However, with the amount of talent that this player has, the Astros are going to want to hold on to him.

Yordan Alvarez

At the time, it may have seemed like the Astros did not make a major move during the trade deadline last season. However, the Astros may have acquired their first baseman of the future when they traded right-handed reliever Josh Fields to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 1^st, 2016. Since entering the Astros organization, first baseman Yordan Alvarez has blown away scouts and fans alike with the amount of power in his bat as well as his offensive ceiling.

Alvarez started his professional career at Single-A Quad Cities and tore the cover off of the ball. He hit .360 with a .468 on-base percentage and a .658 slugging percentage in 32 games. He had 15 extra base hits, including nine home runs, scored himself 26 times and drove in 33 RBIs.

Since his call up to Single-A (Adv) Buies Creek on June 23^rd, Alvarez’s offensive production came back down to earth a bit. In 17 games, the 20-year-old has a .230 batting average with only a .361 slugging percentage. However, he has shown patience at the plate during this stop. Despite decreasing his walk percentage, his strikeout percentage has decreased to 17.3 percent.

Next: Astros: Shouldn't count out Luhnow getting Sonny Gray

Even though it may be awhile before he takes the field at the major league level, the Astros have to be happy that Alvarez is in their organization.

***Stats provided by MLB.com, MiLB.com, Baseball Reference and Fangraphs***