Houston Astros Top Prospect Lands on Double-A Injured List

The Houston Astros haven’t revealed why they’ve placed their first-round pick from a year ago on the injured list.

Hooks' Brice Matthews bats during the game against the Amarillo Sod Poodles at Whataburger Field on Thursday, August 1, 2024, in Corpus Christi, Texas. / Angela Piazza/Caller-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

A future Houston Astros infielder is on the Double-A Corpus Christi 7-day injured list for an undisclosed reason, according to his MiLB.com bio page.

Brice Matthews, an infielder listed as a shortstop for the Hooks, was placed on the IL on Friday.

The Astros’ No. 3 prospect joined the Hooks after he was promoted from High-A Asheville on June 18.

With Corpus Christi he’s batted .234/.351/.450/.801 with six home runs and 13 RBI in 30 games.

The 22-year-old started the year with Asheville and landed on the Tourists’ IL on May 7 and returned on May 31. He reportedly had a back injury. With the Tourists he batted .321/.423/.580/1.003 with six home runs and 17 RBI in 21 games.

Combined with his short rehab stint in Florida, he has combined to bat .283/.398/.512/.910 with 12 home runs and 31 RBI.

He joined the Astros last year when Houston selected him in the first round (No. 28 overall) out of Nebraska. That brought the Houston native back home.

With the Cornhuskers he batted .266 for his first two seasons and then made the move from second base to shortstop. In 2023 he had a breakout season, as he slashed .359/.481/.723 and then put together the second 20-20 season in Big Ten Conference baseball history.

After the selection, Houston sent him to the Florida State League Astros and later the Class-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers where he combined to hit .208/.365/.352/.717 with four home runs and 11 RBI.

The Astros further drained their farm system recently when they traded outfielder Joey Loperfido, pitcher Jake Bloss and infielder Will Wagner to acquire pitcher Yusei Kikuchi for a drive to win the American League West. Houston has won five straight, punctuated with their win over Boston on Sunday, which completed a three-game series of the Red Sox.

The only prospects ahead of Matthews are outfielder Jacob Melton, who is at Triple-A Sugar Land, and outfielder Luis Baez, who is at Asheville.

The prospect directly behind him is another infielder Zach Dezenzo, who was promoted to the Astros last week and has started several games at first base. Behind Dezenzo in the prospect rankings is outfielder Zach Cole, who is with Matthews at Corpus Christi.

The rest of the Houston’s Top 10 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, are pitcher A.J. Blubaugh (Sugar Land), pitcher Jose Fleury (Corpus Christi), pitcher Colton Gordon (Sugar Land), pitcher Anderson Brito (Fayetteville) and outfielder Kenedy Coronoa (Corpus Christi).