Pedro León is the number 8 in the Houston Astros’ Top-30 prospect list. The talented Cuban signed with the team from the Space City in 2021 for 4 million as an international free agent out of Mayabeque, Cuba via the Dominican Republic.
Although he’s a toolsy outfielder, that hasn’t always translated on the field. In his first two years of pro ball he’s posted a slah line of .225/.355/.407 with 26 home runs, 56 steals and a 29% strikeout rate. A two-year layoff following his defection from Cuba and injuries (broken pinky finger in 2021, facial fracture last year) and a failed attempt at shortstop haven’t helped his cause either. León is a projected five-tool player with plenty of raw power, speed out of the box (and more once he gets going) and arm strength, which is he best attribute.
He also has electric bat speed and hit 17 home runs last season and showed a willingness to take a base on ball, he still has a lot of offensive adjustments to make at plate. León still chases too many pitches out of the zone, tries to pull to much to left field and needs to make more consistent contact on off-speed pitches.
León is very aggressive on the basepaths, though seems to still be refining his base stealing technique after succeeding on just 67 percent of his attempts over the past two seasons. He’s still not the most polished center fielder either, but uses his quickness to overcome his mistakes, and has the arm to play anywhere in the outfield.
Scouting grades (20-80).
Contact: 40 | Power: 50 | Speed: 60 | Arm: 70 | Defense: 55 | Overall: 45
Projections:
Last season he played 115 games with Sugar Land (Triple A), during that time he slashed .228/.365/.431/.796, with 27 doubles, three triples, 17 home runs, 63 runs batted in and 71 runs scored. Even though he struggled plenty last season Houston however is still placing a lot of trust in him that he will take that next jump this season and so far he’s rewarded their trust by getting off to a quick start hitting .370 in his first seven games of the 2023 campaign. If León stays at that pace we might see him on the grand stage very soon.
This winter in the Roberto Clemente League of Puerto Rico he .204 with a fours homers and 11 runs batted, but the importance if that was that he saw some action during the offseason and this had him game ready for the season in spite of his injury to start camp. Last fall he also saw some action in the Arizona Fall League against other organizations top prospects and impressed with an OBP of .381, nine RBIs and four stolen bases in 20 games.