Houston Astros Target Powerful Stanford Pitcher in Latest MLB Mock Draft

The Houston Astros could find their next star pitcher during the next draft.

Feb 28, 2025; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal starting pitcher Matt Scott (28) throws a pitch against the Xavier Musketeers during the first inning at Sunken Diamond. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have one of MLB's best starting rotations right now, but the future of it is a massive question mark.

Along with the Astros having one of the league's weakest farm systems, their depth of pitching talent is an even bigger hole.

In the MLB pipeline rankings, the first five prospects are all positions players. There are a number of intriguing pitchers within the farm, but few are sure things.

That's likely why, in the latest mock draft from Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report, they went with a powerful college pitcher at No. 21 overall by selecting Stanford Cardinal righty Matt Scott.

"The 6'7", 247-pound right-hander has power stuff, but needs to prove he can maintain it over the course of a full season and improve his command. The Astros know how to develop power arms, so this might be his ideal fit," said Reuter.

Scott is a massive pitcher with hopes of becoming a power-throwing starter.

He was actually selected by the Texas Rangers back in the 20th round of the 2022 MLB draft out of high school, but opted to join the Cardinal in hopes of building out his profile a bit more.

At first, it didn't really work out.

He struggled as a freshman with a 5.10 ERA with a 1.433 WHIP, 5.0 BB/9 and just 8.3 K/9.

In Year 2, he continued to struggle with a 5.96 ERA. His walk numbers dropped a little bit to 4.1 BB/9 and his strikeouts rose to 11.6 K/9, but still, he wasn't exactly looking like a first rounder.

Scott has been one of the biggest risers of the early part of the college season as he has dominated his first three starts of the campaign.

The 21-year-old has a 1.56 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 3.6 BB/9 and 9.9 K/9.

If it all comes together for the rest of the season, Houston might not have the chance to draft him at No. 21.

These tall, power-throwing aces are starting to become the norm in baseball, and the Astros are one of the team's lacking players who have that profile.

Ronel Blanco is 6-foot-3, but doesn't really fit the mold that is emerging. Of their top prospects, Ryan Forcucci carries more movement than power on his fastball.

Now, just because a pitcher is over 6-foot-5, it doesn't mean that they are going to turn into Paul Skenes or Andrew Painter.

But with Houston needing to find an ace in their next wave of players, they could turn to Scott as their guy in the upcoming draft.