Houston Astros Recently Drafted Catcher Has No. 1 Prospect Potential

The Houston Astros should be excited about the future of this catching prospect.

May 26, 2023; Mesa, AZ, USA; Sam Houston Bearkats' Walker Janek (3) celebrates his 3-run home run against the GCU Lobos during their WAC Tournament game at Hohokam Stadium. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Houston Astros have been the gold standard in baseball for nearly a decade as a World Series contender year in and year out.

But, staying at that level comes at a cost.

For the Astros, it has been the depth of their farm system.

Remaining at the top of the sport has required Houston to continually dip into their farm system to keep the Major League roster stocked to compete with the very best.

Just ahead of the trade deadline last July they unloaded Joey Loperfido, Will Wagner and Jake Bloss, three of their more promising prospects and young players, for 10 starts of Yusei Kikuchi.

He pitched at an incredibly high level for the Astros down the stretch, but departed in free agency, signing a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

In hindsight, that may not be a deal the front office makes again. It was an incredibly steep price to pay to make the playoffs but get swept by the Detroit Tigers in the ALWC.

This offseason, the franchise has taken some steps to restocking the farm system as they made the difficult decision to trade star right fielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs.

Under team control for one more year, Houston took a short-term step back to hopefully improve their future outlook.

The lineup is certainly worse without Tucker in it, but they got back one of the best prospects in baseball, third baseman Cam Smith, as part of the deal.

The 2024 first-round pick is the only thing buoying the team’s farm system value right now, as they are ranked last by some outlets.

But, there is some hope that things will turn around in the near future.

One of the players that the Astros are hoping can be a foundational piece in the future is catcher Walker Janek, whom they selected in the first round in 2024.

The Sam Houston State product is highly regarded by the writers of MLB.com, who believe he will be the team’s No. 1 prospect two years from now.

“The Buster Posey Award winner as college baseball's top catcher in 2024, Janek became the first backstop selected last July when the Astros drafted him with the 28th overall pick. He offers plus raw power and arm strength as well as promising framing skills,” they wrote.

His debut as a professional at High-A was not pretty, as he recorded a slash line of .175/.214/.289 in 103 plate appearances.

That is an incredibly small sample size and isn’t worth drawing many conclusions from after he produced regularly in college.

In 166 games with the Bearkats, Janek had a slash line of .325/.429/.578 with 37 home runs and 36 doubles. The power looks to be legitimate and his defensive skills provide him with a great floor to work with.

Recommended Articles

feed