Astros Snag Power Hitting College Third Baseman in Recent MLB Mock Draft

The Houston Astros could seek to draft an heir to Carlos Correa at third base in next summer’s MLB draft.

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Third base has been a bit of a revolving door for the Houston Astros since the end of the 2023 season.

Alex Bregman, their long-time third baseman, left in free agency and joined the Boston Red Sox for 2024. Houston started the season with Isaac Paredes as their everyday third baseman. But a hamstring injury at the trade deadline forced Houston to go after their former star, Carlos Correa, to play third base.

He is under contract through at least 2028. Various vesting options, team options and player options could tie him to Houston through 2032. But, at some point, the Astros will need a replacement. That’s where MLB Pipeline headed in their first mock draft of the 2026 cycle. The site, which only projected the Astros’ No. 17 overall pick, has them taking Mississippi State third baseman Ace Reese.

About Ace Reese

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When the Astros selected Bregman in 2015, he was a college infielder who moved to third base and locked down that position for Houston for nearly a decade. Houston could only hope that Reese, a draft-eligible junior, can do the same thing.

The left-handed hitter started his college career at Houston but transferred to Mississippi State after his freshman season. He shined so much at MSU that he was named the SEC newcomer of the year. He led the team in batting average (.352), hits (80), multi-hit games (25), and multi-RBI games (20). He also earned all-America honors.

His calling card is power. With the Bulldogs he hit 21 home runs and drove in 64 runs. That’s a productive clip and if he eclipses that in his junior season, he may not fall enough for Houston to select. But the MLB draft is notoriously fluid and a player like Reese could fall to the Astros even after a great season.

Houston also has the No. No. 28 pick, which the Astros received as a prospect promotion incentive pick after Hunter Brown finished in the Top 3 in American League Cy Young voting.

Recent Houston Astros First-Round Picks

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The Astros have had a first-round pick each of the last four years. They surrendered their first-round picks in 2020 and 2021 as part of the punishment for their sign-stealing scandal connected to their 2017 World Series season.

Two of their recent first-round picks have made MLB debuts, but only one for the Astros. Shortstop and Houston native Brice Matthews, their first-round pick in 2023, made his MLB debut last season. Drew Gilbert, who was selected by Houston in the first round in 2022, was traded to the New York Mets in 2023 in the Justin Verlander deal. He was traded from New York to San Francisco last year and made his MLB debut with the Giants.

Houston’s 2024 first-round pick, catcher Walker Janek, is coming off a solid 2025 and an attention-grabbing Arizona Fall League performance that could have him at Triple-A Sugar Land sometime next season. Last year’s first-round pick, shortstop Xavier Neyens, was the No. 21 overall pick out of Mount Vernon High School in Mount Vernon, Wash.