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Unheralded Astros pitching prospect surges into strikeout lead in Arizona Fall League

Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Climbing Tal's Hill

Mar 1, 2021; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Houston Astros Alex Santos #90 poses during media day at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: MLB photos via Imagn Images / USA TODAY NETWORK

When people talk about the Houston Astros' farm system, it is often centered around a few key names like Jacob Melton, Brice Matthews, and Walker Janek, while lamenting the fact that the organization currently ranks as one of the worst minor league crops in all of baseball.

When you look at basically any top 30 prospects list out there right now, righthander Alex Santos' name does not pop up even in such a "weak" system, and most don't even know he is in Houston's system.

This is, frankly, understandable. Santos was picked 72nd overall in the 2020 draft out of high school and has struggled with command, pitch development, and injuries in the three full seasons he has played since then. After getting promoted to Double-A for 2024, Santos made six appearances (five starts) and posted a 7.83 ERA before hitting the injured list for good in early June.

However, Houston clearly saw enough in Santos to give him a chance to re-establish himself on their prospect depth chart in the Arizona Fall League this year. It is safe to say that he is making the most of the opportunity.

Alex Santos is making a name for himself as an Astros prospect worth following down in the AFL

While taking a small sample size of innings from the AFL with a grain of salt is important, especially since no pitcher is throwing starter innings down there, Santos consistently getting this sort of feedback from hitters is encouraging. Both Santos' riding fastball and breaking ball seem to have the high level of competition in Arizona completely bamboozled, with a lot of hitters getting frozen in the box.

Santos has had to make a lot of adjustments as a professional pitcher. The Astros have changed his pitch usage and the shape of his breaking ball, and getting pro hitters out is an entirely different animal than being a man amongst boys in high school. For some guys, it just takes a long time to figure things out.

Sure, it would be great if every top Astros pick hit the ground immediately like Alex Bregman did back in 2015. Hell, Houston fans would be thrilled to have seen a pitching prospect even remotely as heralded as Forrest Whitley during the many years since his breakout.

While there is no guarantee Santos will reach the status as either of those guys, his performance in the AFL is a reminder that player development isn't always linear, and players can always find a way to be a pleasant surprise.

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Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.