Houston Astros Farm Report: May 2026
May featured some good and some bad down on the farm for the Houston Astros. Here are the main takeaways from the month for the club's top prospects.
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With over two months of the Minor League Baseball season in the books, it’s time to check in on some of the top prospects in the Houston Astros‘ farm system.
Houston’s system, frankly, is one of the more lackluster ones in baseball, as they failed to have a single prospect crack Just Baseball’s Top 100 Prospects List. Still, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a few standout performers worth highlighting.
Today, we will go through many of Houston’s top prospects and see how they performed in the month of May. Some put together a stellar month, others struggled mightily, and several battled injury. Let’s break down the main takeaways.
3B/SS Xavier Neyens
Neyens had another solid month at Low-A Fayetteville, with an OPS at .805 and nearly as many walks as strikeouts (29 strikeouts, 21 walks). Now, it took an exceptional month of patience to get to that K:BB ratio. That’s likely not a sustainable path to success at the upper levels, especially with a 31.1% swing percentage on the season.
A player of Neyens’ archetype is very reliant on pop, and three extra-base hits in a month won’t get it done. All three of those left the yard, but they resulted in just five RBIs.
He’s also mixed in some reps at short defensively, committing five errors in 105 innings. Neyens was always projected to be a third baseman or corner infielder, but this seems to be confirming that.
The Astros’ top prospect has been taking advantage of a patient approach against lesser pitching, which is a good sign from a young player. It could be easy to get anxious and make hero swings, especially with his pop, but Neyens has stayed within himself and driven the pitches he can get the barrel on.
C Walker Janek
Janek got injured on May 3 for Double-A Corpus Christi and just returned for a rehab assignment on May 20 at the complex. He was moved to Low-A Fayetteville for rehab on May 30.
RHP Ryan Forcucci
This one will be short and sweet because there’s not much good to report. Forcucci was transferred to the development list on May 20 after walking 19 hitters and throwing 9.2 innings to an 11.17 ERA on the season.
The command just hasn’t been there, and one of the Astros’ top prospects will be taking some time to tinker with some things.
OF Joseph Sullivan
Sullivan didn’t have the best May, but still got into plenty of power and showed his power-speed combo some more. The outfield prospect slugged five more home runs to lead Double-A Corpus Christi with 10 on the season and stole four more bases.
Sullivan’s big kryptonite will always be chase and whiff, and that was apparent in May. He struck out 33 times in 92 at-bats and drew just four walks. No matter how much power he gets into and how well he defends, that’s an unsustainable number.
RHP Miguel Ullola
Ullola has a 49.0% flyball rate this season, and that came back to bite him at Triple-A Sugar Land. That led to an 8.16 ERA and six home runs in 14.1 innings pitched.
The more concerning part about Ullola’s May is the continued lack of command. He had 16 strikeouts to 12 walks, and has a 43.7% zone percentage on the season. If the command doesn’t start to improve, Ullola is going to flame out at the last step of the minors.
OF Kevin Alvarez
Alvarez went bananas in May at Low-A Fayetteville, sporting a .904 OPS with four home runs, seven doubles and a 13-to-9 K:BB ratio.
Alvarez’s May is an improvement from a solid April, showing he’s settling in to full-season ball. He’s also got nearly 1-to-1 K:BB ratio like Neyens, but the raw numbers being lower shows he’s getting pitches to hit earlier in counts and not missing them.
The outfielder should likely be one of the Astros’ top prospects at the next update, and this start is proving that.
OF Anthony Huezo
Huezo slowed down a touch after a scorching-hot start, but he still did enough damage to counter his increased whiff at Low-A Fayetteville. He struck out 33 times and hit just .202 but slugged four homers, five doubles and a triple. He also stole nine bags in 13 tries.
There’s a lot of tools to like with Huezo, but you’d like to see the strikeout numbers level off some. The fact he can still be productive and sport an OPS at .736 while he’s struggling shows what a well-rounded player he is.
RHP Ethan Pecko
Pecko likely did not have much fun in May for Triple-A Sugar Land. He was given 17.2 innings and rocked an 8.15 ERA, giving up 24 hits, three home runs and 11 walks.
He’s not giving up as much hard contact this year as the numbers would suggest, with an average exit velocity of 87.3 MPH and a 38.7% hard-hit percentage.
RHP Bryce Mayer
Mayer had a great month of May at Double-A Corpus Christi, throwing 15 innings to a 2.40 ERA with 21 strikeouts to 11 walks. Mayer only surrendered seven hits in the month.
As a flyball pitcher, Mayer will give up some home runs. He limited that to one in the month, and his home run to fly ball rate is still at 18.8% on the season.
Overall, it was a terrific step forward for the righty.
OF Ethan Frey
Frey was one of my favorite prospects coming into the year, and he finally broke through in May. He’s reliant on the bat for value, and he turned that into an .872 OPS with four homers, eight doubles, 17 RBIs and six steals at High-A Asheville.
Frey, like many other hitters in this organization, struggled with swing-and-miss. He punched out 38 times but walked 14 times and hit .293. The LSU product still hit the ball hard and got it to drop when he did, but he didn’t always make contact.
This feels like a massive step forward for a guy who could be a masher as he elevates in this system.
RHP Jose Fleury
Fleury was great in April, but not so much in May. The reliever surrendered six runs on 12 hits and three walks in 7.2 innings, with just two strikeouts.
RHP James Hicks
Hicks struggled for the second month in a row at Double-A Corpus Christi, mostly because he’s not getting the whiff he needs to be successful. His May ERA was at 5.75 in 20.1 innings, getting peppered for 23 hits.
RHP Jackson Nezuh
Nezuh was effective at Double-A in May, giving up just five free passes while throwing to a 3.72 ERA in 19.1 innings. He’s fighting an uphill battle without an elite pitch, but has managed it well so far in 2026.
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