Houston Astros Call Up Prospects Hunter Brown and Yainer Diaz
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Two days after being added to the Houston Astros' Taxi Squad, pitching prospect Hunter Brown received a call-up to the club's big league roster Thursday.
Brown, a 6-foot-2, right-handed 24-year-old, is the no. 1 prospect in the Astros' farm system, and the no. 71 prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB.com's prospect rankings. He will soon be making his Major League debut.
Brown has excelled in Triple-A this season. In 23 games, he has a 9-4 record, 2.55 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 106 innings pitched.
The Astros selected Brown in the fifth round of the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
Brown joins the Astros' big league roster on September 1, the day that active rosters expand from 26 players to 28.
Prior to the 2020 Major League Baseball season, active rosters expanded from 25 to 40. That is no longer the case. Now, active rosters are limited to a maximum of 28.
Joining Brown in the big leagues will be his catcher, Yainer Diaz, who will also be making his MLB debut.
Diaz, 23, has thrived at both the Double-A and Triple-A level this season slashing .306/.356/.898, hitting 25 home runs and knocking in 96 RBI in 105 games. Diaz is the Astros' no. 3 prospect according to MLB.com's rankings.
MLB.com has also ranked the Astros' farm system as the 29th-best in baseball, but the Astros still have other promising pieces in their pipeline.
If the Astros need a reliever down the stretch of the season, Triple-A pitcher J.P. France could be a great addition to the club's bullpen.
In a pair of corresponding roster moves, the Astros designated infielder Niko Goodrum and right-handed pitcher Peter Solomon for assignment Thursday.
The Astros have Thursday off, then open a three-game weekend series in Anaheim against the Angels Friday night.
