Four Houston Astros Prospects Make Massive Move Up Top-30 Rankings

Ryan Clifford is just one of four Top 30 prospects who took double-digit jumps in Baseball America's re-rank of the team's top prospects.

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Four Houston Astros prospects have made big moves up Baseball America’s Top 30 organizational prospects, released as a re-rank in early June.

The re-rank was based on a variety of criteria, as Astros prospects moved up and moved down the board. These are prospects who were ranked in the preseason Top 30 and moved up in the re-rank.

Here are the Four Astros prospects that made the biggest jumps in the Top 30 and what factored into their new rankings.

Ryan Clifford, OF (+16, No. 4)

Clifford was drafted in the 11th round last year out of Pro5 Academy in Apex, N.C., and he jumped from No. 20 in the preseason. He’s already with High Class-A Asheville (he started with Class A Fayetteville) and in his first 53 games of 2023 he slashed .282/.412/.477/.889 with nine home runs and 36 RBI. Given how quickly he’s ascended, it’s not out of the question the Astros see him as an outfielder of the future.

J.P. France, RHP (+14, No. 7)

France was at No. 21 in the preseason. Now that he’s with the Astros it’s no surprise he made this kind of jump. The 2018 14th-round pick is 2-2 with a 3.42 ERA in eight starts with the Astros, so he’ll graduate from the prospect rankings soon. With Sugar Land he went 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in five games (three starts) this season. Batters at Triple-A were hitting .133 against him.

Colton Gordon, LHP (+12, No. 14)

The lefty vaulted into the Top 15 from the preseason rankings. Selected in the eighth round in 2021, Gordon was 2-4 with a 3.63 ERA in his first 12 games (10 starts) with Double-A Corpus Christi. He struck out 68 and walked 20. Notably, batters are hitting .204 against him. More notable? Gordon spent 2022 with three different Astros affiliates in his first pro season (2022) to earn the promotion to Corpus. He’s moving fast.

Forrest Whitley, RHP (+11 No. 17)

Whitley moved up 11 spots despite going on the injured list earlier this month with a lat strain. That could keep him out of the rest of 2023. With Sugar Land he was 1-2 with a 5.70 ERA in eight games (six starts), struck out 32 and walked 17. The former 2016 first-round pick hasn’t fulfilled the promise of that selection. But the good news is that he’s still just 25 and he’s at Triple-A, the doorstep to the Majors. 

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