The Astros are set to bring up two of their most talented young players in the coming days. Both Hunter Brown and Yainer Diaz are reportedly getting their first major league calls. Brown’s promotion is expected to come when active rosters expand from 26 to 28 players on Thursday, while the specific timing of Diaz’s call isn’t clear.
It’s a fantastic birthday present for Brown, who turned 24 today. A fifth-round pick out of Wayne State University in 2019, Brown has outperformed that relatively modest draft status. He struggled with his control late in his draft year, and his first full professional season was wiped out by the pandemic. The Detroit native began the 2021 campaign in Double-A and generally overpowered upper level hitters. He fanned 35% of opponents and induced ground-balls at a quality 47.7% clip to earn a midseason bump to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Brown returned to the Space Cowboys to open the 2022 campaign. He’s spent the whole year there, working 106 innings over 23 outings (14 starts). He’s posted a 2.55 ERA that is the lowest mark among the 50 Pacific Coast League hurlers with at least 60 frames. Brown has punched out an impressive 31.5% of batters faced and racked up grounders at a huge 54.2% clip. His 10.6% walk rate is a couple points higher than average, but the combination of strikeouts and grounders hints at the elite stuff he brandishes.
Baseball America recently placed Brown as the sport’s #40 overall minor league talent. BA credits the right-hander with a plus-plus fastball (a 70 on the scouting scale) that sits in the mid-90s and can reach 99 MPH. The outlet praises his plus low-80s curveball and suggests both his slider and changeup could be average MLB offerings. With that kind of arsenal, it’s little surprise Brown has racked up strikeouts in the minors, but evaluators raise questions about his strike-throwing consistency. Whether he’ll have good enough command to stick in an MLB rotation long-term remains to be seen, but it seems likelier the club will break him into the majors as a possible relief weapon for the stretch run.
Houston has a bit of uncertainty in the starting staff at the moment. Luis Garcia has struggled of late, while Justin Verlander is set to undergo an MRI after leaving yesterday’s start with calf discomfort. Even if Verlander requires an injured list stint — which hasn’t yet been determined — the club could work Cristian Javier back into a rotation with Framber Valdez, José Urquidy, Lance McCullers Jr. and Garcia. Brown’s ability to work with high-octane stuff for multiple innings could make him a key bullpen piece for manager Dusty Baker, and September could serve as an audition for a spot on the club’s postseason rosters.
Brown’s promotion is the headlining news for Houston, but Diaz’s call-up also marks a noteworthy transaction. A right-handed hitting catcher, Diaz was acquired from Cleveland in last summer’s deadline trade that sent Myles Straw for Phil Maton. Not generally regarded as a huge piece of the deal at the time, the native of the Dominican Republic played out the 2021 campaign in High-A. Despite a massive showing at the plate, he was left off the 40-man roster last winter and would’ve been available to other clubs had the Rule 5 draft not been canceled due to the lockout.
Remarkably, Diaz has gone from being left unprotected to one of the organization’s top prospects in a matter of months. BA placed him as the organization’s #2 farmhand on their midseason re-ranking of the system, while Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slotted him third among Houston’s minor leaguers last month. Both outlets praise his offensive upside, noting that he’s primarily a bat-first catcher. That’s been fully on display during what has been a breakout season in the upper levels.
Diaz began the season in Double-A Corpus Christi. He hit .316/.367/.504 over 267 plate appearances, earning a bump to Sugar Land in late June. The 23-year-old has continued to mash, posting a .294/.342/.587 showing with 16 longballs in 219 trips to the dish. Diaz has only struck out in 16.3% of his plate appearances while posting a cumulative .306/.356/.542 line to earn his first crack at big league pitching. With Martín Maldonado and Christian Vázquez on hand, Baker doesn’t figure to pencil Diaz in behind the dish very often. He’s gotten some looks at first base and very briefly in the corner outfield this season, and he’ll add a bench bat with the ability to catch or work in around the corners as needed.
Each of Brown and Diaz would’ve been eligible for the Rule 5 this winter if not added to the 40-man roster. They were thus locks to be put on the roster at the end of the year at the latest, but Houston will take an early look at two of their top young players to see if they can potentially contribute to this year’s playoff team. Houston’s 40-man roster is full, so they’ll need to create a pair of vacancies there even with the upcoming expansion of the active roster.
Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported Brown was being promoted. Mark Berman of Fox 26 was first to report Diaz’s promotion.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Nice birthday gift for the young man
This kid is gonna be a postseason weapon like Wainwright was for the Cards in 2006.
Wain who?
More like Verlander 2.0.
The guy has pitched extremely well in AAA parks that are a paradise for hitters.
The OPS in the PCL is insane.
RHP Seth Martinez sports a 2.31 ERA in 35 IP with the Astros.
When he was optioned to AAA, he had a rude wake up call. 3.86 ERA at AAA this season. Good think he is back with the Astros.
RHP Lance McCullers had a 7.15 ERA at AAA. Was a bit concern about McCullers based on his results at AAA.
Anyone know if he would be able to be on the playoff roster ?
yes he can be
Hunter Brown’s idol growing up in Detroit was Justin Verlander. He has Verlander’s windup and stuff. Imagine him learning from Verlander on the same team. Of course JV’s calf injury might be a temporary hold on that, but still a great opportunity.
Diaz can hit and has shown that throughout the minor leagues. Will be interesting to see what position he plays in the majors. Maybe some DH and maybe some 1B. I doubt he will catch much with Maldonado and Vazquez holding down the fort.
Diaz has pretty much split his time between C and 1B this year. He’s also seen some time in left field, though he’ll probably rotate between C/1B/DH.
Yainer Diaz is very interesting……
Has always been able to hit. Might be a decent back-up Catcher that can be grown. Came in the Phil Maton – Myles Straw deal. Have always felt that Diaz was the key to it for the Astros, and that they may hit the jackpot. It’ll take a few years to see.
I thought he might sneak on the midseason top 100. All he’s done is hit.
Really hope Christian Javier continues to start. He’s been lights out.
So where does korey lee stand now inside the Houston org?
He’s falling very quickly in the prospect rankings but he’s been raking as of late.
exactly, before this week he was hitting his weight, but he hit 7 home runs in 5 days last week.
His callup earlier in the year was a test case prior to trading for Vasquez. He’s been hitting well in aaa lately so hopefully he continues and has a better mlb showing next year.
Not so much a test case being his first taste in the bigs. It was necessity due to Castro’s injury. The plan had been to introduce Lee in ‘23. The team needed a veteran backup hence the trade for Vazquez. Diaz has played himself into a call up. I don’t think the team views him as a potential starting catcher that can hit but as a potential 1B/bench. Hope it works out for Lee and Diaz
I’m not sure the B-R link for Hunter Brown is correct.
Yeah all it takes man is just typing in Hunter Brown and you get the correct stat page
Brown is decent. I dont expect dominance though. Not a strong fastball but not that weak either. Secondary stuff is 50/50. Not that hard to lay off but also should get some swings and misses. Massive Wainwright-level 12-6 break but not that hard to pick up because of the spin incoherencies and lack of command
. Strongest point about Brown is how heavy the ball is. Not a strong fastball, but it’s coming in with a lot of weight. Will be tough to deal with
Also, probably lots of inconsistencies from pitch to pitch. Probably throws much more pitches that are “off” than beautiful pitches perfectly located and with perfect spin harmony
Also the spin on the fastball is coming in much tighter and better than the spin on his secondary stuff
Hitters should be able to easily identify fastball from non-fastball just based on the wobble and flairs that are coming off the secondary stuff
If it has a tighter spin and it looks smaller, it’s going to be the fastball
That’s a major liability. Hitters should be able to easily distinguish fastball from non-fastball with Brown
The only pitch Hunter Brown does not throw consistently is his change-up.
He refined his secondary pitches into high leverage weapons. His slider is as nasty as Ryan Pressly’s.
Brown can hit 90 mph + with his slider. His curveball is the best in the entire organization to include the big league club. A devastating weapon.
His change-up is a dud. Does not repeat his delivery consistently with this pitch. AAA hitters hammer his change-up.
He has a Justin Verlander fastball that he can get up to 99.8 mph late in games. His FB is the primary reason he is on MLB’s top 100 prospect list and the reason he was drafted by the Astros.
RHP Hunter Brown is the hardest working player in the system. During the Pandemic, he built his own pitching mound to practice on.
Hunter Brown is the best pitching prospect to filter through the Astros system the past 2 decades.
The Astros drafted a one-pitch pitcher that projected as a relief pitcher and helped him develop 3 highly potent weapons. Plus Brown has a work ethic that rivals Verlander’s. He lives for baseball.
Really going to be fun watching him.
99 isn’t a strong fastball? 70 on the scouting scale on his fastball….
Hunter Brown is the only minor league pitcher to average more than 96 mph on his FB (more than 800 pitches) and greater than 90 mph on his slider (more than 300 pitches).
Also C Korey Lee ended up as the best defensive catcher in the entire PCL. He also found his swing – 21 HRs now at AAA. Returning him to AAA after a big league stint lit a fire under him on the offensive side. He is mauling AAA pitching.
Astros have four other prospects in the mix to join MLB’s top 100 prospect list in 2023.
Yeah, but can he pitch?
Best ERA among qualifying pitchers in a notorious hitter’s league.
I’d say he can pitch.
That guy thinks he’s the hardest working pitcher in Major League baseball because he built his own mound. I built my own mound in my backyard when I was 11.
Man, had to go check out Kevin Bass’ stats. He was a great Astro. 7th in MVP voting for that spectacular 86 Astros team and Glenn Davis finished 2nd!
Very nice… Coincidentally I was 11 years old during the 1986 season. That is when I fell in love with baseball as a fan. I’d already fall in love with playing it. Great season for the Astros. Amazing ending to the regular season. Not a disappointment in the way the season ended because that Mets team was great. It was a great series.