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:

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:

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