Assessing Astros Prospect Nehomar Ochoa’s First Week in Arizona Fall League

Many teams try to find a balance between position players and pitchers when they allocate their players for the Arizona Fall League. The Houston Astros did no such thing.

Houston opted to send a large pitching contingent to the AFL and just one position player — outfielder Nehomar Ochoa. So far, it looks like a wise decision for the Astros.

He and the rest of the Astros prospects have been at the AFL for more than a week and on a team that includes top San Francisco Giants prospect Dakota Jordan and Kaeden Kent, the son of newly minted baseball Hall of Famer Jeff Kent, Ochoa stands out.

Nehomar Ochoa’s First Week in AFL

Off to the races in the desert!

Braylon Payne (@Brewers) and Nehomar Ochoa Jr. (@astros) deliver consecutive triples for Scottsdale: pic.twitter.com/SxobtyxUlB
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 9, 2026

He and the rest of the Astros prospects are playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions. Through the first week Ochoa is the only scorpion to play at least six games, and he leads the team with 22 at-bats.

Ochoa is slashing .318/.464/.455. That’s the fourth-best slash on the team and his .464 on-base percentage is third best. With an OBP of .919, which is third best on the team it shows off his diverse skill set. He hasn’t hit a home run, but he already has one double, one triple, two RBI five walks and five stolen bases. He only has four strikeouts.

Ochoa has a professional baseball bloodline. While he was born in Venezuela, he grew up in the U.S. His father, Nehomar Ochoa Sr., played minor League Baseball in the Montreal Expos organization for three seasons before a shoulder injury curtailed his career.

He moved to the U.S. when he was 10, and his family settled in the Houston area. The Astros selected him in the 11th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Galena Park High School.

Ochoa made steady progress in 2023 and 2024 before he was nearly killed in a car accident in Florida during spring training. He was only able to play in 29 games and he slashed .158/.229/.200.

He surged back this season even though he missed part of the season after breaking his ring finger. But his numbers showed he has a bat to go along with his athleticism. He slashed .287/.349/.500 with 11 home runs and 49 RBI. He still needs to work on plate discipline — he struck out at a four-to-one ratio to walks — but he stole 21 bases to show the speed he’s displayed in the AFL is no fluke.

The other Astros AFL prospects include right-handed pitchers Juan Bello, Joey Dixon, Francisco Frias, Railin Perez and Jank Pichardo.

The Astros are playing alongside prospects from the Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, and Detroit Tigers.

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