Drew Gilbert, former Vols standout, earns high praise from Astros star José Altuve: ‘He’s ready, man’

Drew Gilbert is a name that won’t be forgotten around Knoxville, Tennessee for some time.

Gilbert was the top player on a 2021 Vols baseball squad that made the College World Series. He’s also a part of the reason the Vols made it that far in the first place, smacking a walk-off Grand Slam against Wright State in the regional round to stay undefeated. The Vols and Gilbert went on to win the regional, down LSU in the super regional round and advance to the CWS for the first time since 2005.

The Houston Astros selected Gilbert with the 28th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. And already, Gilbert is rising the ranks in the minor leagues.

It’s enough to have caught the attention of Astros star José Altuve, who had some high praise to heap on Gilbert Friday afternoon. Check out Altuve’s thoughts on Gilbert below:

Jose Altuve on Drew Gilbert at Corpus: “He’s ready, man. Wow, beautiful swing, made some good plays… I really love the way him and a few more guys on that team are ready to play in the big leagues. I can tell you that. You want to see the future of the Astros, go there.” pic.twitter.com/SHC4J99ESQ

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) May 19, 2023

Gilbert was promoted to Double A Corpus Christi quickly, where Altuve is on rehab assignment. And Gilbert is contributing on both ends already for the Hooks. Check out this missile of a throw from a game a few days ago:

Drew Gilbert can throw too, confirmed.@ESPNAssignDesk | #SCTop10

T7 | TUL 0 HBCB 1 pic.twitter.com/K325ynlIq5

— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) May 18, 2023

If this keeps up, Gilbert will be in the big leagues by the end of the year, folks.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.