Astros prospect becomes first MiLB catcher with 30-30 season in 45 years!

For the first time since Kyle Tucker in 2019, the Astros have a prospect with a 30-30 season.

Jason Schiavone notched his 30th stolen base of the year in the fourth inning of Wednesday night's contest for Triple-A Sugar Land vs. Las Vegas at Constellation Field. Houston's No. 6 prospect swiped two bags in his final game with Double-A Corpus Christi on Sept. 6 before his promotion to Sugar Land two days later.

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Tucker, a four-time All-Star, accomplished the feat with 34 homers and 30 stolen bases at Triple-A, while also contributing to the World Series team that season. Schiavone reached the milestone behind 32 roundtrippers.

There have been only nine instances of a 30-30 season in the Minor Leagues -- including former Astros center fielder George Springer in 2013 -- since at least 2005. (Royals prospect Carson Roccaforte achieved the mark on Sunday.) None of them were catchers, and there has never been a primary catcher to have a 30-30 season in the Major Leagues. The last Minor League catcher to produce a 30-30 season was Willie Royster, who did so as a 27-year-old for the Charlotte O's in 1981.

The biggest riser in the Astros' Top 30 Prospects list, Schiavone rode a breakout season across three levels, starting the 2026 campaign at High-A Asheville. The 2024 11th-rounder went from unranked to No. 3 in the system before 2026 draftees joined the ranking. The Astros named him their Minor League Player of the Year on Tuesday.

Across 35 games with the Tourists, the 23-year-old catcher slashed .289/.452/.766 with 17 homers, 10 doubles, 42 RBIs and nine stolen bases. He regressed offensively in the Texas League, facing more polished pitching and a tighter strike zone, though the righty started to find his groove near the end of August.

Schiavone, a product of James Madison, posted a 1.001 OPS across his final 12 games with the Hooks, swatting six homers and stealing three bases. He boosted his final Double-A slash line to .233/.357/.428 over 79 games in the process and joined the Prospect Team of the Week for the final week of August.

After finishing out his third professional season -- second full season -- with the Space Cowboys, Schiavone will extend his longest year of baseball in the Dominican Winter League. Astros assistant general manager Gavin Dickey announced on the Astros' pregame radio show Sept. 6 that Schiavone will play for the Leones del Escogido.

"The more competition he can face, the more high-level arms he can face is only going to make him better," Astros director of player development Sam Niedorf said. "Playing in the Dominican Winter League is an honor. Playing for a team like Escogido is an honor, and those are accolades that Jason surely deserves."

The organization really likes how Schiavone's profile may play against Major League-experienced pitching this offseason. And the opportunity to face older competition would only better the catcher's chances of impacting the big league club in 2027.

"We feel really good about the workload that he endured this year," Niedorf said. "Obviously, we're going to be smart and conscious with him as he goes into the winter. But he's a guy who takes unbelievable care of his body. His routines are on point, and someone we have a lot of faith in going down to the Dominican for a little extra PAs and innings behind the plate to continue to fine tune his profile."

Along with putting together a historic offensive sheet, Schiavone put his 60-grade arm to good use. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound backstop has thrown out 32.3% of attempted basestealers this season while making 70 appearances behind the plate.