Trio of Astros Prospects Take Surprisingly Big Drops in Latest Top-30

Three Houston Astros prospects made significant drops in 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 three Astros prospects that made the biggest drops in the Top 30 and what factored into their new rankings.

Korey Lee, C (-22, No. 29)

Lee was the Astros’ first-round pick in 2019 and he should be the team’s catcher of the future. In fact, he had a cup of coffee with the Astros last year and was even on the World Series roster when the Astros beat the Phillies. Yainer Diaz has clearly overtaken Lee as a prospect (Diaz was No. 1 in the re-rank). But that doesn’t mean Lee’s MLB hopes are done. In his first 58 games with Triple-A Sugar Land he slashed .284/.331/.395/.726 with three home runs and 26 RBI. The power numbers appear to be the drag on his status — for now.

Pedro León, OF (-15, No. 21)

Another prospect that took a steep fall from the preseason, as he was No. 6 in March. He’s at Sugar Land for the second straight season and his slash numbers through his first 57 games are pretty aligned with last year’s, though the batting average is up — .245/.333/.440/.773. He hit nine home runs and 34 RBI, and with that pace he could match last year’s power numbers. Several prospects graduated between preseason and midseason, which would explain why León moved down — and why there’s hope he could move up again.

Joe Perez, 3B (-13, No. 26)

Perez is 23, sitting at Sugar Land and he’s waiting for his shot. Alex Bregman is under contract through next season, if third base is the position he’s hoping for. He was a second-round pick in 2017 out of Archbishop McCarthy in Southwest Ranches, Fla., and he’s played at every rung of the Astros’ system. He even got a plate appearance with the Astros last April. So why the drop? Sometimes players that have spent this much time in the minors get overlooked for younger players who have more promise. Fact is Perez’s numbers aren’t much different from a year ago. After 60 games his slash numbers were down a bit — .266/.339/.413/.752 — but he hit six home runs and 34 RBI. He’s poised to pass those power numbers from a year ago.