Astros’ handling of top hitting prospect was strange, but is paying dividends now

When the Houston Astros gave Luis Baez $1.3 million as an international free agent, the hope was that he could develop into a guy with plus power who also had a strong feel for the strike zone. The hype train sped up when Baez put together a loud pro debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2022 with a .903 OPS. However, after a couple of mediocre seasons at the plate in full-season ball, Baez was conspicuously absent from minor league action to start the 2025 season.

After a reasonable 2023 season, which saw Baez's stock on the rise before the following season, his numbers dipped to a passable .763 OPS in 2024. Some thought that Baez was dealing with the aftereffects of surgery that impacted his ability to be on the field at the start of the 2025 season in an attempt to explain why he wasn't playing.

However, the actual explanation for Baez's absence had nothing to do with his health or his bat; instead, it was his glove that was keeping him on the sidelines. Thankfully, it appears as though the Astros' development plan for Baez seems to be working.

Luis Baez was held out of action to fix his defense and now he is setting the minor leagues on fire

According to Astros senior director of player development Jacob Buffa, Baez's defense was lagging behind the rest of his skillset. In Buffa's own words, "I don’t think we ever questioned if the bat was there. When we kept him out of competition to focus on the defense, we knew there would be a little bit of a ramp-up period, getting back into games."

Buffa's account of Baez's does match up with what we were hearing from scouts. The upside at the plate is tremendous, but Baez has put on some weight as he has gotten older and stronger, and the days when he could have been a center fielder are long gone. Giving him some time to learn to be more efficient with routes now that his legs have slowed makes a lot of sense, although teams don't typically just keep guys out of games altogether to just work on defense. It feels somewhat likely that Baez's thumb surgery played a role as well, although the two issues could go hand-in-hand.

Whatever Houston did, it appears to have worked on a number of levels. Baez isn't likely to be a plus defender in an outfield corner, but he has looked fine out there, and his bat has really taken off lately. From when he returned to the field at the end of May through the end of July, Baez boasted just a .204/.259/.287 and saw his prospect stock take a dip. However, since the beginning of August, Baez has been absolutely raking with a 1.064 OPS, including hitting .415 for the month so far.

Obviously, Baez won't be able to keep THIS pace up forever (probably). However, what this has shown us is that it is rare that a prospect's development is linear, and sometimes, it is best to take a breather and focus on the basics before pushing a guy through the system. Baez is living, breathing proof of that.

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