Houston Astros 2024 MLB Draft Review

Project Theme: Small College Players

The Astros had an extremely college-heavy draft, with only two high school players selected in 19 picks. They also selected players primarily from smaller programs. In the first 10 rounds, Houston didn’t select a single top-tier conference player and instead opted for small-school prospects like catcher Walker Janek (Conference USA), right-handed pitcher Ryan Forcucci (Big West), right-handed pitcher Parker Rice (American Athletic), right-handed pitcher Cole Hertzler (Conference USA), SS Caden Powell (Juco), outfielder Joseph Sullivan (Sun Belt), right-handed pitcher Dylan Howard (Big South), right-handed pitcher Ryan Smith (Missouri Valley), and right-handed pitcher Ramsey David (NAIA). This may have been just a coincidence, but it was notable because more and more of the players being drafted seem to be coming from conferences like the SEC and ACC.

Most interesting pick of day 2: right-handed pitcher Parker Smith, 4th round

Smith is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-hander who anchored Rice’s rotation for several years and was a solid strikeout pitcher for three seasons. He owns a career 3.96 ERA over 220.1 innings and 40 starts with a strikeout rate of just 18.9 percent but an impressive 6.8 percent walk rate. Smith works off a quick delivery and throws with a loose, whipping arm action and a low three-quarter pitch. He sits in the 90-94 mph range with his fastball and will top out at 96 with a drop-and-run life that makes the pitch more of a groundball-inducing pitch than a true miss at-bat. As you might expect from his walk rate, he does a good job of setting up the fastball in the zone to set up a solid duo of secondaries, which include a solid 80-85 mph slider that he lands on his glove side and a firm 80+ mph changeup that he places down and to the arm side. The slider has been his best swing-and-miss pitch this spring, though the drop-off and declining life of his changeup could make it his best secondary in the long run. Smith uses the slider more against righties and the changeup more against lefties, but he has an impressive feel for both. Smith’s lack of strikeouts and power limits his ceiling a bit, but he has a profile as a solid late-rotation starting pitcher.

Most interesting pick of Day 3: Right-handed pitcher Ryan Verdugo, 12th round

Verdugo helped his Bishop Amat High School team win four straight conference championships before heading to Cal State Bakersfield, where he pitched as a reliever as a freshman in 2022 before becoming a full-time starter. He had a career year in 2024 when he posted a 2.72 ERA over 89.1 innings and 14 starts, with a 24.5% strikeout rate and a 10.9% walk rate. A 6-foot-2, 205-pound right-hander, Verdugo primarily throws with a fastball/slider combination and sits in the 89-92 mph range with the fastball that will touch 95. His 78-82 mph slider is a high-spin, slurvy pitch that sometimes features a decent glove-side sweeping action but will occasionally blend into a more curved look with a three-quarter shape. He occasionally mixes in a mid-range changeup to lefties, but that pitch isn’t a big part of his arsenal right now.