The Houston Astros’ participation in international scouting, recruiting, and signing has been as well-documented in recent years as it’s been successful. Sneaking up, with little fanfare, has been fireballing right-hander Jairo Solis, currently ranked #11 on Houston’s MLB Pipeline prospect list.

UPDATE: Bad news for Jairo…As reported by CBS Sports, January 30, 2019, Solis underwent Tommy John surgery, and like his big league counterpart, Lance McCullers, Jr, will miss the entire 2019 season to recover. Solis’ last appearance was a 3.1-inning relief appearance for Class A Quad Cities on August 6, 2018, so he likely tore his UCL around that time. Like McCullers, Solis will shoot for a 2020 return to the mound.

“Our continued objective is to maximize Major League value and our Latin player pipeline through best-in-class international scouting, player development, and operations.” Oz Ocampo was Houston’s director of international and Latin player development in 2017 when he outlined the Astros’ objectives in this arena to MLB.com. Since October 2018, Ocampo has been a special assistant to Houston GM Jeff Luhnow.

“We have been able to execute our strategy so far with the development of key international prospects, including Freudis Nova (ranked #9), Jorge Alcala and Gilberto Celestino [who were sent to the Minnesota Twins in the July 2018 trade that brought Houston reliever Ryan Pressly], Miguelangel Sierra, Cionel Perez (#5), Framber Valdez (#12), and others,” Ocampo continued.

Jairo Jhonkleide Solis

The 19-year-old Solis is ranked at #11, up from his preseason #13 ranking. Solis was signed out of the northern coastal town of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (130 miles west of Caracas) for $450,000. He was part of the Astros’ $17.5 million international spending spree in 2016.

From Baseball America at the time of his signing comes this scouting report: “He’s grown to 6-foot-3, 190 pounds and was a solid-strike thrower with a starter profile before he signed, but he didn’t have the same power to his stuff compared to [fellow 2016 Venezuelan signee Angel] Macuare.

“At that time, Solis had reached 91 mph with good leverage and downhill angle, but since then he has reached 94 mph [and even 98 at times, according to the pitcher himself]. He complements the fastball with a hard slider that’s his best secondary pitch along with feel for a changeup that he’s taken to quickly and flashed good action.”

A rapid mover, Solis earned two promotions during his 2017 pro debut in the Houston organization. He finished that summer as the sole 17-year-old pitcher in the rookie-level Appalachian League (accumulating 69 strikeouts in 61.1 IP on the year).

He also performed well for the Astros’ Class A Quad Cities River Bandits at age 18 this past season (3.55 ERA and 51 Ks in 50.2 IP, 5.68 BB/9 and 9.06 K/9).

“Extremely Talented”

Jayne Hansen of WhatTheHeckBobby.com interviewed Quad Cities’ pitching coach, Graham Johnson, in July 2018, who sang Solis’ praises without hesitation, “Very young and at the same time extremely gifted, extremely talented and that’s obviously why he’s here.

“As soon as he got into the Astros organization, they saw some very quick development and that’s why he shot right to us. The big thing for him is he’s got the power fastball and the offspeed is there, but it’s more about how to use and when to use the offspeed. That is going to be the key to unlocking what he can really do on the mound.”

But, Solis proceeded to blow out his elbow in August 2018 and had Tommy John surgery that should sideline him all of 2019, echoing Astros’ starter Lance McCullers Jr’s unfortunate fate, whose November TJ surgery will force him to miss the upcoming season.

MLB weighs in on the Solis projectability: “He could add more velocity as he continues to mature physically, and his heater has late hop and cutting action that keeps it off barrels.

“Solis’ athleticism allows him to repeat his delivery and should translate into strikes, and his long arms create downhill plane that make life more difficult for hitters. If he can return to health and refine his changeup and command, he could develop into a No. 3 starter.”

FanGraphs’ Jairo Solis Prospect Report

Fastball Curveball Changeup Command Future Value 55 / 60 50 / 60 45 / 50 30 / 45 40+

The Future for Solis

With his recent surgery eliminating a 2019 assignment, if all goes well with his recuperation, Solis will be 20 in 2020, and his placement for that season will have to wait for evaluation by team officials.