Houston Astros' Brown Moves Up Top-100 in Latest Prospect Ranking Update

MLB Pipeline released its updated top-100 and top-30 Houston Astros prospect ranking Tuesday.

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MLB Pipeline released its updated top-100 prospect ranking Tuesday, and similar to other outlets, the only Houston Astros minor leaguer to grace the list is Hunter Brown, moving from No. 80 to No. 71.

The record is broken. The right-handed pitcher sits atop the Pacific Coast League in strikeouts, opponent batting average, ERA and WHIP; he is most certainly ready to impact the Major League club. Brown also has the highest-graded curveball of top-100 prospects at 65.

On Wednesday for Triple-A Sugar Land, Brown tossed six innings — the longest relief appearance by a Space Cowboy this season. The righty punched out eight batters, allowing two runs on a home run with one out in the ninth inning.

On a 1-2 count in the seventh inning, Brown was tacked with an automatic ball for exceeding the pitch clock. The righty argued the ruling then responded with a 99.1 mph four-seam fastball down the middle, striking out the side to end the frame and exiting the mound with the most emotion seen in the contest.

The outlet also updated the Astros' top-30, adding five 2022 draft selections. Drew Gilbert, Jacob Melton and Ryan Clifford all broke into the top-10 at second, sixth and eighth, respectively.

Outfielder Kenni Gomez was listed at No. 24 in the Astros' system following an impressive showing in the Dominican Summer League. The 17-year-old is slashing .295/.411/.511 through 33 games with 17 walks to 24 strikeouts as of Wednesday.

Spring training standout Alimber Santa also cracked the top 30. The Single-A right-handed pitcher faced three batters April 10 before being pulled. He was placed on the shelf with an undisclosed injury but started a rehab assignment in Florida Complex League in August.

Santa has combined for 18 pitches over two rehab innings. The righty has yielded two runs on three hits and a hit batter to his four strikeouts. Seventeen of the Astros' top-30 best prospects were brought into the system during the James Click era.

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