The Houston Astros ' farm system has generally not had the best perception over the years. However, they still keep producing new talent. The Astros' farm is currently ranked 29th in baseball according to FanGraphs.
While it isn't necessarily full of talent, the Astros still have Kevin Alvarez and Xavier Neyens as the top two prospects in their system. In past trade deadlines, the Astros have parted ways with multiple high-level prospects, not giving them the time to fully develop.
That's not what happened at this year's trade deadline for the Astros as they acquired veteran center fielder Daulton Varsho in exchange for starter Spencer Arrighetti . That was Houston's only move and it somewhat addressed a key concern of adding more experience and production to the outfield.
What was surprising is that the Astros did not trade for another starting pitcher, given the fact that they gave up Arrighetti, who likely would've played a part in the rotation for the rest of the year had it not been for his right foot nerve injury. He still would've came back and pitched.
The Astros needed more starting pitching depth, especially given two current starters in Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski are both coming off Tommy John surgery, while Tatsuya Imai just got added to the bullpen. While the rotation has some questions, the Astros can look to their farm system for some answers given the front office only made one trade for Varsho.
Here are two prospects who could be called up now.
Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown speaks at a press conference at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Pecko is a 23-year-old starter who currently has a 4.84 ERA in 16 appearances (14 starts) at Triple-A Sugar Land this season. He's ranked sixth overall among Astros prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. In his 70.2 innings pitched, Pecko has struck out 68 batters. The 2025 season was the real deal when he quickly went through the entire system to the Space Cowboys.
He could be an interesting pitcher to take a look at, especially given the Astros might need more starters than initially thought. Pecko was a sixth-round pick in 2023. Last season, Pecko had a 3.09 ERA in eight games (seven appearances) with Sugar Land.
Houston Astros pitcher Alimber Santa (72) throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals during the fifth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Given that the Astros could still use some more pitching help, Santa could also get called up again. Yes, he's still a prospect because he maintained his rookie eligibility, but he was quite good when pitching for the Astros bullpen. He had a 1.17 ERA in 10 games with a 0.91 WHIP.
Santa obviously played a huge role in the combined no-hitter earlier this season with two shutout innings. Santa is ranked 14th overall among Astros prospects according to MLB Pipeline. He has just a 1.76 ERA in 31 games for the Space Cowboys so far this season with a .199 average allowed.
Santa is someone who can pitch multiple innings, and his reliability early in his career is encouraging.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/astros/onsi as 2 Astros Prospects Who Can Reach Majors After Trade Deadline .
