Houston Astros Prospect Who Made Major Leap in 2023

The Houston Astros' organization has constantly been maligned for their prospect pipeline whenever rankings are released by sites and experts who grade minor league players.

However, they've been able to get a lot out of whoever they call up and have developed some into stars of the league.

One player hoping to be the next one on that list put together a great 2023 season that could result in him getting the Major League call at some point soon.

Third baseman Zach Dezenzo was selected in one of the later rounds of the MLB Draft by the Astros but has started to turn himself into one of the better prospects in their pipeline.

MLB.com writes, "The Astros took Dezenzo in Round 12 of the 2022 Draft after he tied an Ohio State record with 19 homers. He wasn’t on the club’s Top 30 list to start the season, but jumped on the radar in a hurry by hitting .407 with an OPS of 1.102 over 31 games with High-A Asheville to earn a bump to Double-A. He was just two homers shy of a 20-20 season, finishing with a combined .914 OPS and 141 wRC+."

Like they said, the 23-year-old prospect was mashing the ball at the High-A level. His production dropped off a bit comparatively when moving up to Double-A.

However, he still finished with a slash line of .257/.339/.486 with 14 home runs and 41 RBI in 63 games.

Dezenzo is an interesting prospect to keep an eye on because Alex Bregman still has some gas left in the tank and is expected to stay with Houston for many years.

Dezenzo is expected to make his Major League debut at some point during the 2025 season, whether that's with the Astros or another organization.