Astros Prospect Update 5/8: Jacob Melton's struggles, Cole Hertzler, Brice Matthews

While the big league team tries to play their way out of their recent funk, things have gotten interesting down in the Houston Astros' farm system. Astros prospects who are normally reliable sources of talent and optimism have fallen off to start the season while new names have popped up on fans' radars.

Here is a look at how some of the top ranked Astros prospects are doing down in the minor leagues as well as one lesser known name who was off to a great start before his season took an unfortunate turn.

Astros Prospects: Jacob Melton's struggles with injuries are getting concerning

Jacob Melton has long been considered one of the Astros' best prospects and experts have been predicting him to break out for a couple years now. While Melton has certainly showed flashes of brilliance when he is right thanks to his tantalizing blend of power and speed, issues with injuries are starting to pile up and become real cause for concern.

A wrist injury in 2024 limited his power output last season and kept his OPS to a disappointing .735. Melton then dealt with a back issue during spring training and only managed to slash .190/.292/.571 in the six games after his return with those numbers getting a small sample size boost from a two-homer game. Now, Melton is dealing with a groin injury and hasn't played since April 17. At some point, Melton is going to have to prove that he can stay healthy.

Astros Prospects: Cole Hertzler was off to a hot start before mystery injury

Most Astros fans may not be aware of prospect Cole Hertzler as he was just a fifth round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Liberty University and he only threw five innings after being drafted last year. However, Hertzler had been incredibly impressive to start the 2025 season at low-A Fayetteville with a 0.66 ERA across three starts and 19 strikeouts in 13.2 innings of work.

Unfortunately, Hertzler was put on the minor league 7-day IL on April 23 with a publicly unknown injury and has not pitched since. While that would normally be cause for concern, that Hertzler was doing a promotional video about his season for the team just a couple days ago gives hope that his injury isn't too serious and we could see him back on the mound soon.

Astros Prospects: Brice Matthews struggling to adjust to Triple-A

Brice Matthews is a physical specimen and was quite the steal at the bottom of the first round in 2023. Thanks to having both great speed and potentially plus power, Matthews' ceiling is an All-Star shortstop if everything breaks his way. Unfortunately, he is going to have to get his hit tool in order and Triple-A is currently giving him some fits.

Through 33 games, Matthews currently sports a .200/.345/.304 line and he has recorded just one hit in the month of May. The good news is that he is continuing to walk at a very high clip which will give him opportunities to use his speed. However, striking out a third of the time or more in the minor leagues two years running isn't going to cut it if he has big league aspirations. For those hoping Matthews would make his big league debut soon, he still has a good bit of work to do.

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