Undrafted Sleeper Prospect May Be Astros’ Next Breakthrough Talent

This Houston Astros outfielder has the chance to pounce on the organizational gap created by the trade of Jacob Melton.

Houston Astros hat and glove in the dugout during the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Outfield has been somewhat of a bugaboo development position for the Houston Astros. Trading Jacob Melton didn’t help.

The outfielder — who had been one of their top prospects for two years and made his MLB debut last year — was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays this offseason. He’s not the only outfield prospect Houston has dealt in the past few years, either. The Astros did the same with Drew Gibert in 2023 to re-acquire pitcher Justin Verlander from the New York Mets. Gilbert is now a starter for the San Francisco Giants.

Things got so weird in the outfield last year that the Astros moved Jose Altuve to left field on a part-time basis. Houston has done little in free agency to shore up the position, aside from release Chas McCormick.

It’s possible the Astros have a prospect lurking in the system. Baseball America (subscription required) recently highlighted a sleeper prospect for each organization and outfielder Lucas Spence was Houston’s selection.

Lucas Spence, Astros Sleeper Prospect

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Spence is getting this done the hard way. He played two years at Black Hawk College in Moline, Ill., where he was an NJCAA All-Region 4 first team Selection. He transferred to SIU-Edwardsville, where in one year in the Ohio Valley Conference he led the league with a .385 batting average. His 85 hits were seventh all-time in a single season at SIUE.

But it did nothing for him come draft weekend and he slipped out of the 20-round draft entirely. He landed with the Astros on an undrafted free-agent contract and few expectations.

Houston started him at Class-A Fayetteville at the end of the 2024 season and, predictably, he struggled with rookie league pitching. In 28 games he slashed .200/.347/.288 with a home run and four RBI. One bright spot was his .347 on-base percentage.

Last season, his performance picked up, to the point where he played for three affiliates — Fayetteville, High-A Asheville and Double-A Corpus Christi. His entire offensive profile livened up, as he slashed .244/.368/.403 with 10 home runs and 55 RBI. He also hit 31 doubles, three triples and stole 27 bases.

Geoff Pontes, the Baseball America analyst who wrote Spence’s breakdown, wrote that “he looks like the Astros’ latest scouting find.” He praised the 22-year-old’s “advanced hitting ability” and defensive ability in center field. He’s needs to improve against left-handed pitching to avoid a platoon situation.

But, with a good start at Corpus Christi, he could find himself at Triple-A Sugar Land sometime in 2026 and preparing for a potential breakout in 2027 with the Astros.