The two headliners for the Houston Astros’ 2022 minor league baseball season are Hunter Brown and Ana Diaz. The top-five prospect represented the Astros in the July futures game and was rightly seen as Houston’s Minor League Player of the Year on Tuesday.
The Astros’ player development named Brown Minor League Pitcher of the Year after the right-winger had a 2.55 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 23 games with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys.
Brown pitched 106 innings for Triple-A Sugar Land before his September draft. In his first major league job, the 24-year-old allowed just two runs in 18 innings. With 19 hitters, Brown has allowed six walks and 15 hits.
Houston Astros receiver Yainer Diaz
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Brown and Diaz named Astros minor league players of the year
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Diaz started his 2022 campaign with the Corpus Christi Hooks. After hitting the tune of 0.871 OPS, the right-hander proved he’s ready for a 3A upgrade. But what’s most notable in Diaz’s development is that he’s in Low-A at the start of the 2021 season.
The 24-year-old has continued his success with the Space Cowboys over the past two seasons, playing for four different affiliates. In 48 games, Diaz slashed 0.294/0.342/0.587 before receiving his first major league call-up in September.
Diaz hasn’t been on the court as often as Houston over the past few weeks, appearing in just six games — only two of which were starts. Now on the cab team, Diaz has the opportunity to continue immersing himself in some of the major league experience behind veterans Martin Maldonado and Christian Vazquez.
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