Baseball America mock draft has Astros picking college arm with tons of helium

The 2025 MLB Draft is quickly approaching, and for the Houston Astros, this is going to be an important class. The Astros came into the season with a very shallow crop of real prospects, and that was before Cam Smith made the Opening Day roster and Jacob Melton was promoted to the big leagues. If the Astros have any hope of keeping the talent pipeline flowing — or have capital for trade — Houston needs to get multiple prospects from this year's draft class who can make an impact.

Unfortunately, a function of Houston's success during the regular season is their late-round draft picks. There's not usually an infusion of elite-level talent during the backend of Round 1. The Astros will still have good options picking No. 21, but the blue chip prospects will be gone and the success rate of players picked that low goes down quite a bit.

Baseball America latest mock draft (subscription required), however, has the Astros making an intriguing pick with Arkansas starting pitcher Gage Wood receiving the nod.

Baseball America mock draft projects Gage Wood to the Astros

Assuming Wood is available, this could be a strong pick for the Astros. BA's Carlos Collazo correctly noted that general manager Dana Brown, going back to his time with the Atlanta Braves, has liked fastballs that carry at the top of the zone. Wood has looked impressive lately with his fastball/power breaking ball combo. His performance recently has been so good that there are some who think his stock has risen far enough that the Astros won't even have a chance at No. 21.

However, Wood comes with more risk than your typical college starter. On top of the fact that he doesn't have an off-speed offering of note, Wood's health is also a concern. He battled shoulder issues in high school and Wood only made nine starts in the 2025 regular season for the Razorbacks due to a shoulder impingement. Shoulder injuries are scary, and it's possible that Wood's stock will settle back down once the hype of the postseason dies down and teams actually get to look at his medicals.

Is it dangerous to pick a late rising prospect in the first round? Absolutely. Track record does matter and that is particularly true with pitchers who have had injury issues. However, if Houston does their due diligence and finds that he is both healthy and his recent success is likely to stick, the payoff in picking Wood could be huge.

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