Kyle Tucker clobbered yet another home run Thursday afternoon, taking Boston Red Sox minor-leaguer Matthew Gorst deep to right field at Fitteam Ballpark and propelling the Houston Astros to a 10-5 victory with his third long ball of the nascent spring schedule.

No matter what he does over the next few weeks, though, the 21-year-old outfielder - a consensus top-20 prospect - will start the regular season in the minor leagues, according to Astros manager A.J. Hinch.

"He's a good-looking young player who is doing a great job of making a great first impression," Hinch told MLB.com's Brian McTaggart on Friday. "He's got some things to learn, he's got some things to work on. He's a great talent, and I think that's where it starts and ends. I think his contribution to the major-league level will come at some point if he continues to progress, but it's not going to come at the end of the month no matter what he does. We feel it's just not in the best interest for him."

Tucker, then, will either open the campaign with Double-A Corpus Christi - where he spent nearly four months in 2017 - or Triple-A Fresno. He may not be there for long, though.

"Now, he can make it more interesting. That timeline always moves depending on your readiness, but that's not defined by the first two weeks of spring," Hinch said. "I'm proud of him, I'm happy he's doing what he's doing. The Kyle Tucker show will join the big leagues at some point if he continues to do what he's doing, but he's not currently in competition to make the team."

Brought to major-league camp as a non-roster invitee, Tucker, the fifth overall selection in the 2015 draft, is 5-for-13 (.385) with three homers and a 1.462 OPS through five Grapefruit League games. Last year, in 120 games split between Corpus Christi and High-A Buies Creek, Tucker hit .274/.346/.528 with 25 homers, 33 doubles, and 21 stolen bases.

When his time comes, Tucker - who's behind George Springer, Josh Reddick, Derek Fisher, Jake Marisnick, and possibly Drew Ferguson on the team's outfield depth chart - will have to be added to the 40-man roster before he can join the Astros.