José Altuve on Astros No. 1 prospect Drew Gilbert: 'He's ready, man'
José Altuve’s rehab assignment took him to the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, for just two days while he continues his comeback from a broken right thumb. Still, the former American League MVP, saw all he needed to see from former Tennessee baseball star Drew Gilbert.
“He’s ready, man,” Altuve, the Astros star second baseman, said of Gilbert according to MLB.com Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart. “Beautiful swing, made some good plays.”
Gilbert was a first-round pick by the Astros, taken at No. 28 overall, in the MLB Draft back in June. He’s the No. 1 prospect in the Astros system and, according to MLB.com, could make his Major League debut as soon as 2025.
Drew Gilbert playing Double-A baseball in first professional season
“I really love the way him and a few more guys on that team are ready to play in the big leagues,” Altuve said, according to McTaggart. “You want to see the future of the Astros, go there.”
Gilbert played four game of rookie ball, seven in Single-A then 21 in High-A. He’s now played 10 games in Double-A. All told so far in his Minor League career, Gilbert is hitting .329 with a .400 OBP, .500 slugging and .990 OPS. He has eight home runs, 29 RBI, 12 doubles and 11 stolen bases, with 14 walks against 30 strikeouts.
In 10 games at Double-A Corpus Christi, Gilbert has nine hits, including three doubles, and five RBI in 34 at-bats. He had six home runs, 18 RBI, 31 hits and eight doubles in 21 games in High-A, playing for the Asheville Tourists.
Gilbert in three seasons at Tennessee — he was drafted in the 35th round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins before opting to play college baseball with the Vols — had 22 home runs, 140 RBI and hit .329 in 509 at-bats over 141 games.
He had a career year in 2022 with 11 home runs, 70 RBI, a .362 batting average, .455 OPS, .673 slugging and 1.128 OPS in 58 games. He had 10 home runs and 62 RBI in 68 games in 2021 after appearing in just 15 games before COVID cancelled the 2020 college baseball season.
Tennessee program record 10 players picked in 2022 MLB Draft
His most memorable moment with the Vols was his walk-off grand slam with Tennessee trailing 8-5 in the bottom of the ninth against Wright State in the Knoxville Regional in 2021, starting Tennessee’s run to the College World Series.
Ten Tennessee players were selected in the 2022 MLB Draft, a program record. After Gilbert went at No. 28 to the Astros, Jordan Beck came off the board at No. 38 to the Colorado Rockies. Pitcher Blade Tidwell went in the second round, to the New York Mets, and the Washington Nationals picked Trey Lipscomb in the third round, ahead of Ben Joyce, another third-round pick, selected by the Los Angeles Angels.
Pitcher Will Mabrey (Arizona Diamondbacks) and infielder Jorel Ortega (Minnesota Twins) were sixth round picks. Outfielder Seth Stephenson (Detroit Tigers) and pitcher Mark McLaughlin were picked in the seventh round. Shortstop Courtland Lawson (Washington Nationals) was picked in the 14th round.
