Major League Baseball has released all of its spring 2025 training schedules, and the Houston Astros have learned which franchise they will face in the annual Spring Breakout game.
The Astros will host the game at their training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, and it will be a rematch against their 2019 World Series opponent, the Washington Nationals.
The match will be played on March 14th, the time is yet to be announced.
The Astros and Nationals played a classic seven-game series in 2019 that saw Washington win the franchise’s first World Series title. It was a revenge of sorts after Houston’s 2017 World Series title defense ended with a loss in the American League Championship Series to the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
While Houston has returned to the World Series twice since facing Atlanta – losing in 2021 and winning in 2022 against Philadelphia – the Nationals have not had a successful season since winning the championship.
The game will feature some of the best young players from both organizations. The names of the young players will be announced at a later date.
However, both organizations can expect some of their most promising talents to play in the game.
Since the first Spring Breakout games in March, 95 participating players have made it to the majors, and 35 of them were MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospects. When the MLB Futures Game was held during All-Star Game weekend last month, 48 of the 54 players participated in the Spring Breakout.
For the Astros, pitcher AJ Blubaugh participated in the MLB Futures Game. He plays at Triple-A Sugar Land. The Arizona Fall League, which takes place in October, is another indication of who might play next year.
Houston’s system was re-evaluated by MLB Pipeline this week, and outfielder Jacob Melton remained the organization’s most promising prospect. He’s now in Sugar Land. He’ll likely get an invite to major league training camp, but his status as a top prospect will likely put him in play unless he’s competing for a job in the MLB.
Of Houston’s top 10 prospects, only infielder Zack Dezenzo is currently in the majors and has quickly become a regular. If he finishes the season in the majors, he will likely be dropped from the prospect rankings and taken out of the game.
The competition could serve as a showcase for Walker Janek, the Sam Houston catcher who was selected in the first round of the draft last month.
