The Houston Astros will have two selections in the 2026 MLB draft and in this mock draft they split them up between hitters and pitchers.
The Houston Astros have two first-round picks for the first time in 11 years, and they hope to repeat what they did in 2015.
Back then, Houston had two of the first five selections, one of which was given to them because they failed to sign their first-round pick in 2014.
With those two selections, the Astros selected Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker.
Both of those picks worked out for Houston, though neither is with the franchise anymore.
Houston’s selections aren’t quite as good this time around. The Astros will have the No. 17 overall pick and the No. 28 pick, which the Astros received as a prospect promotion incentive pick after Hunter Brown finished in the Top 3 in American League Cy Young voting.
Baseball America (subscription required) has the Astros taking a prep hitter with their first pick and a college pitcher with its second pick.
Astros Mock Draft Selections
The prep hitter was outfielder Blake Bowen, who is at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Baseball America wrote that he had the best summer of any prep hitting prospect and he already has an advanced approach at the plate.
Still, he’ll need time to develop, given that he’s a high school senior.
The pitcher is North Carolina right-hander Ryan Lynch.
He’s already throwing a 97 mph fastball and struck out nearly 30% of the hitters he faced for the Tar Heels last season.
He went 5-1 with two saves and a 2.92 ERA in 61.1 innings pitched as he earned freshman second-team all-America honors.
Recent Houston Astros First-Round Picks
The Astros have had a first-round pick each of the last four years.
They surrendered their first-round picks in 2020 and 2021 as part of the punishment for their sign-stealing scandal connected to their 2017 World Series season.
Two of their recent first-round picks have made MLB debuts, but only one for the Astros.
Shortstop and Houston native Brice Matthews, their first-round pick in 2023, made his MLB debut last season.
Drew Gilbert, who was selected by Houston in the first round in 2022, was traded to the New York Mets in 2023 in the Justin Verlander deal.
He was traded from New York to San Francisco last year and made his MLB debut with the Giants.
Houston’s 2024 first-round pick, catcher Walker Janek, is coming off a solid 2025 and an attention-grabbing Arizona Fall League performance that could have him at Triple-A Sugar Land sometime next season.
Last year’s first-round pick, shortstop Xavier Neyens, was the No. 21 overall pick out of Mount Vernon High School in Mount Vernon, Wash.
