Houston Astros Unsurprisingly Send Top Prospects Back to Minor League Camp

These two top Astros prospects are returning to the minor leagues after strong spring performances.

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The Houston Astros made another edition of spring training reassignments, but today's round came with a little more emotion than usual. This afternoon, the club announced that No. 5 catching prospect Walker Janek and No. 12 outfield prospect Lucas Spence were reassigned to minor league camp.

These two are still a year or two away from the big leagues, so this isn't a surprise, but they certainly impressed everyone this spring.

Walker Janek Reassigned to Minor League Camp

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Janek spent the last two seasons at High-A Asheville, but absolutely demolished pitching this spring. The 2024 first-round pick battled .455/.571/.909 over 11 at-bats this spring. Janek hit two doubles, homered, walked four times, and stole four bases.

The dual-threat approach wasn't in his bag during his first taste of the minor leagues in 2024, but Janek put on a show last season with 12 bombs and 30 stolen bases. His savvy base running was occasionally incorporated in college, but not nearly as much as last season.

Janek stole 13 bases in his final season at Sam Houston State before being drafted by the Astros. In his third spring training appearance, Janek went 1 for 1 with two walks, three stolen bases, and three runs scored. Three games later, he hit a two-run homer.

Houston's top-ranked catcher turned heads this spring and should be proud of his performance.

Lucas Spence Reassigned to Minor League Camp

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Spence didn't have quite the spring showing of Janek, but still has a high ceiling. Spence batted just .176/.222/.235 over nine games and 19 at-bats. The 23-year-old batted .244 last season with 10 homers and 27 stolen bases across three different teams.

Spence reached Double-A for his final 30 games of the season. Last season, Spence's kryptonite was strikeouts, as he piled up 122 through 116 games.

Houston signed Spence as an undrafted free agent after his strong 2024 season at Southern Illinois Edwardsville, where he won the Ohio Valley Conference batting title.

Last season was his first full professional season, so reaching Double-A is a huge step in the right direction. Unfortunately, spring training didn't go his way, but he wasn't expected to make the opening day roster anyway.

Now Spence and Janek will step back and prepare for the minor league season, and hope to make big strides toward the MLB.