Houston Astros Pitching Prospect Allowed Lowest Batting Average Last Season

The young Houston Astros pitching prospect allowed the lowest batting average against in all of the minor leagues last season.

Hooks pitcher Miguel Ullola throws a pitch on Opening Night at Whataburger Field on Friday, April 5, 2024, in Corpus Christi, Texas. / Angela Piazza/Caller-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Houston Astros are undergoing a lot of changes, but one thing is remaining a constant; their ability to develop international pitching.

Five different pitchers who should have a role in the Astros' staff next season were signed as amateur free agents.

Houston also has another pitcher quickly rising the ranks of minor league baseball.

MLB prospect analysts Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo have gone through each team's farm system to find one stat that stands out, and for the Astros, it was pitching prospect Miguel Ullola's .161 batting average against.

"Ullola's 92-95 mph fastball is downright un-hittable with its flat approach angle and special carry up in the zone. How unhittable? Ullola held opposing hitters to a .161 average in 28 appearances (27 with Double-A Corpus Christi), the lowest opponent average by a qualified pitcher in '24. Overall control remains an issue (14.0 BB%), but when Ullola is hitting his spots, there is little opposing batters can do," said the writers.

The full slash line against Ullola last season was just .162/.296/.296.

He did give up 12 home runs and walked 79 batters over 130.1 innings of work, so cutting down on free passes he issued is the biggest thing the young pitcher needs to improve.

He posted a 4.28 ERA and had a WHIP of 1.159, and when factoring in he allowed just 5.1 hits per nine last year, the walks had a large role in the number of runs scored against him.

This was exactly the type of season Ullola needed after a 2023 season that saw him regress a little bit, though.

He was getting hit with ease and allowed a 5.86 ERA with 1.654 WHIP.

The jump he showed everywhere else more than makes up for the fact that the ERA still isn't where they would want it to be, especially for a minor league pitcher.

The 22-year-old has a high-upside fastball that sits in the mid-90s with the potential to hit upper-90s. With that speed, it also has some vertical movement that causes the misses.

His best pitch besides that is his slider, but his changeup has also shown flashes.

Bryan Abreu had a similar career trajectory of being a high-strikeout pitcher who had control issues in the minor leagues.

Abreu also worked a lot as a starter in the minors, but has become an elite reliever in the MLB.

hTat would be a very solid outcome for Ullola, but he is still being uses as a starter right now.

The 22-year-old made his Triple-A debut last season.

He isn't projected to make the jump to the Majors next year, but he is certainly someone to watch for as being a late debut out of the bullpen.

His stuff is not too far from being playable, especially in a fastball-heavy mix as a reliever.