Rising Astros Prospect’s Wide Array of Pitches Could Pave Way to Majors

The Houston Astros have a prospect with so many pitchers in his arsenal that it’s hard to keep up with them all.

A banner with the Houston Astros logo at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have plenty of pitching. The problem is a good portion of it is either hurt or unproven.

Spending on Tatsuya Imai is a short-term solution — or at least it could be. His three-year deal is basically three one-year deals, considering he has a player option after each year. It could be a short stay for him, especially if he has a great rookie season.

So, it’s important the Astros stay vigilant about developing their own prospects. One, Miguel Ullola, is a starting pitcher who is close to the Majors. But there is another Top 30 prospect, Jackson Nezuh, who is worth paying attention to in 2026.

Jackson Nezuh’s Impressive Arsenal

Get to know the Carolina League strikeout leader Jackson Nezuh 🤝⚾️! pic.twitter.com/jySm0z6ZaD

— Fayetteville Woodpeckers (@WoodpeckersNC) July 22, 2024

Baseball America (subscription required) highlighted a breakout pitching prospect from each organization recently. The idea was to spotlight prospects that may not look like breakout candidates based on standard baseball data, but rather either underlying analytics or something in their makeup that could make them Major League players one day.

For Nezuh, it was his pitch make-up. The 14th-round pick out of Louisiana has five pitches. Starting pitchers tend to have three or four. He has five of them, and most are close to Major League ready, per the site’s scouting report:

“Nezuh complements his fastball with four secondary pitches: a splitter, cutter, sweeper and curveball. His splitter shows the most potential,” per Baseball America.

His fastball only comes in at 93 mph, but the publication’s scouts say it has impressive movement thanks to 19 inches of induced vertical break. With four other pitches, it can make his fastball a more lethal pitch when set against off-speed or high-breaking offerings.

Nezuh didn’t pitch in the minors after he was drafted in 2023, which is not unusual for college pitchers. He spent 2024 at Class-A Fayetteville and High-A Asheville and posted solid numbers, going 8-6 with a 3.89 ERA. He pitched in 27 games with 16 starts, struck out 151 and walked 48 in 120.1 innings while batters hit .241 against him.

Last season he started at Asheville and was promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi. Combined he went 3-9 with a 4.34 ERA in 20 games, with 17 starts. He struck out 76 and walked 28 in 76.2 innings. Batters hit .244 against him. He posted most of his numbers with Corpus and spent two separate stints on the 7-day injured list.

How Nezuh pitches this season will go a long way toward determining how quickly he can follow in Ullola’s footsteps, get to Triple-A and position himself for a Major League debut.