WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Growing up in the Bronx, Alex Santos could hear the roar of the Yankee Stadium crowd from his living room. That helped plant the seed for a dream that he would one day get to play inside Yankee Stadium and hear the cheers from the field.

Santos grew up living and breathing Yankees baseball, looking up to players like Andy Pettitte and Mark Teixeira while attending games regularly. He used to play catch with his father in the park where the old Yankee Stadium once stood and along the way emerged as one of the top young baseball players in the Bronx.

Fast-forward a few years and Santos is wearing an orange Astros jersey while working out during the club¡¯s Minor League camp on the back fields at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. He was Houston's top pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, taken out of Mount Saint Michael Academy with the No. 72 pick, which the Astros received as compensation for losing Gerrit Cole in free agency to the Yankees.

The Astros and Yankees have developed a spirited rivalry in the past few years, with Houston knocking New York out of the playoffs in 2015, ¡®17 and ¡®19. The next time Santos steps inside Yankee Stadium, he could be the subject of a Bronx cheer.

¡°Most of my family members are Yankees fans,¡± he said. ¡°But you know, since I got drafted by the Astros, they kind of just shifted over and became big Astros fans. Except for my grandmother. My grandmother still loves the Yankees.¡±

Santos, 20, is a lanky 6-foot-4 right-hander who¡¯s the Astros¡¯ No. 8-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. In his professional debut last year, he threw 41 2/3 innings for Low-A Fayetteville and posted a 3.46 ERA with 48 strikeouts and 30 walks. He reached 96 mph with his fastball but sat more around 90-91 later in the season, though he still had good carry on his four-seamer and nice sink on his two-seamer.

His curveball has greater potential, showing signs of becoming a plus pitch with upper-70s velocity and plenty of depth. He's gaining aptitude for using a fading changeup that should give him an average third offering. Santos could still fill out his frame as he gets older.

¡°I felt like I did a really good job last year, being like that was my first year of adapting to the Minor League ways and stuff,¡± Santos said. ¡°But I felt like it was good experience actually, being able to move up to Low- A and the whole experience stuff. I was happy with it.¡±

Astros pitching coordinator Eric Niesen said Santos made some good strides last year and continues to grow into his body.

¡°You can really tell the progression in the process,¡± he said. ¡°It's kind of exciting to watch that progression even now in Spring Training, how much farther he's come, and I think that's just going to continue. With a lot of young pitchers, it¡¯s just having a process and knowing particularly what you're working on, and how to work on it on a daily basis ... and how it affects you as a pitcher. That¡¯s the main thing for a young pitcher. Once they do that, the development goes.¡±

Santos said everything started to connect for him last year, and his mindset grew into what it takes to be a professional pitcher. The day-to-day grind and frequent throwing meant he had to adapt to a new ¡°flow¡± that he has now embraced.

¡°Finding your routine and how you know when you do something each day, and then the next day how does it make you feel,¡± he said. ¡°Just make your body find stuff, make your body feel really good, because you throw every day, so we¡¯ve got to find something that clicks to keep you going.¡±

The Astros will push Santos harder this season as he steps back into the rotation in one of their Class A affiliates. If he stays healthy, he¡¯s going to throw more innings than he has at any point in his life and will have to keep adjusting and learning.

¡°I feel like in my head is a pretty big step,¡± he said. ¡°Last year I ended off pretty well. And this year, I kind of just want to keep feeding off that energy and kind of just keep moving forward.¡±