An Astros’ top prospect seeing limited play in the last week

The Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys opened a six-game set with the Round Rock Express on Tuesday at home. Of those six games played, the Houston Astros‘ No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline — Pedro Leon — played in two of the games.

The 23-years-old is versatile, playing the left-side of the infield to being able to play across the outfield. The Space Cowboys, in themselves, are also versatile, having infields like Alex De Goti, David Hensley and Franklin Barreto playing multiple positions.

But with one of the most talented prospects in the highest level of the system not playing regularly in the last week, it drew me down multiple paths for why Leon wasn’t seeing the field at a higher clip.

Prior to the six-game set with the Express, Leon played in all six of the Space Cowboys’ away games in Sacramento. While the first off day hit the following Monday, Leon only played in two of the team’s six.

Why have we not seen much of Astros’ prospect Pedro Leon in the last week for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys?

In Tuesday’s contest, Leon played centerfield and went 0-for-3 with a run, two walks and a stolen base, while he entered the homestand with a .914 OPS. There was no report of injury or fatigue from the club nor the Astros, while he was never transferred to the 7-day injured list.

But two days following the home opener, the Space Cowboys welcomed infielder Ronaldo Urdaneta, a late assigned prospect. The 23-year-old never played past Single-A until this past weekend, earning three plate appearances.

Urdaneta’s assignment possibly correlates with Leon’s lack of time in the field. In Leon’s second appearance of the homestand, the righty was slated at the designated hitter, going 0-for-4 with a walk, two strikeouts and a stolen base.

If Leon remains day-to-day for an undisclosed reason, then Urdaneta’s promotion could be corresponding, as the Space Cowboys infield depth — Edwin Diaz — remains on the 7-day shelf recovering from surgery.