Astros fans should not sleep on this pitching prospect playing his way into 2026 plans

When you're a mid-ranked prospect in a bottom-ranked farm system, it's hard to stand out. The Houston Astros aren't known for their wealth of minor league talent at the moment, and those who have become well-known names are those who are banging down the door of the big leagues.

After a stellar cup of coffee, fans are excited to see more from Zach Cole. The team is actively trying to expand No. 1 prospect Brice Matthews' repertoire by giving the athletic infielder some run in the outfield this year.

On the pitching side, things seem even more shallow. Houston lost its top minor league arm, sending Anderson Brito out in the Mike Burrows trade, That's put more attention on the electric but wild Miguel Ullola. However, lurking in the weeds down at No. 10 on the Astros top-30 list is a hurler who could perhaps be one of the club's biggest risers in Ethan Pecko, who could be a name Astros fans get to know very well in 2026.

Ethan Pecko could rise and make a name for himself with the Astros in 2026

A sixth-round pick in 2023, Pecko was a quick riser in 2024, posting a combined 3.47 ERA and 30.6% strikeout rate while navigating his way across three levels from Single-A Fayetteville up to Double-A Corpus Christi. Another step forward in 2025 could've put him on the map and had him in the conversation for a major league job in spring training.

Instead, 2025 was something of a tale of two seasons. For the first half, the 23-year-old spent it attempting to master Double-A back in Corpus Christi. Instead, he turned in a rather nondescript performance, logging a 4.40 ERA over 43 innings.

Regardless, the Astros called him up to Triple-A Sugar Land, and it was there that he took off. The right-hander pitched 35 innings, posting a 3.09 ERA, and saw his strikeout rate jump from 26.2% in Corpus Christi to a stellar 31.8% at the minors' highest level. Pecko features a sizzling mid-to-high 90s fastball that is a real weapon and has a decent slider and cutter, as well as some less renown offerings in his curve and changeup.

We identified Pecko a while ago as a player who could crash the big league roster in 2026, and while Houston has filled out the rotation since then, there's still reason to believe that the youngster will surface at some point during the 2026 campaign. For one, should injuries strike and he continues where he left off at Sugar Land, he could leapfrog Ullola if the more highly regarded arm is still walking batters at a nearly 16% clip. From there, he could compete with AJ Blubaugh as the first arm to get the call.

There's also a possibility that the Astros could look to him as a bullpen option. Pecko underwent Tommy John surgery during his collegiate years at Towson and hasn't been known for his ability to go deep into games or handle an extremely heavy workload. Putting him in the pen alleviates that concern and his fastball-slider-cutter combo could play up even more if he only has to work an inning at a time.

A good start to 2026, and you'll start hearing a lot more about Pecko as the young strikeout artist is one of the most underrated prospects in the Astros' system.