Joey Loperfido and Hope for Houston
Joey Loperfido of the Sugarland Space Cowboys (MiLB)
“And he launches another one – way high, way deep, and way outta here, yet again. Joey Loperfido … that’s his fifth home run this week, his tenth of the season in thirteen games … I don’t know why he’s still at Triple A, but he is, and the score is 9-4 Sugarland.”
The resigned, laconic, begrudgingly-laurel-wreathing tone of Albuquerque Isotopes announcer Josh Suchon’s home run call a few weeks ago really tells the tale of 24 year-old Joey Loperfido’s hype. Leading the MLB and MiLB with a whopping 13 bombs in 25 games, Loperfido finally got the big league call-up to an Astros ball club running on empty. Will he be the critical spark?
After a sky-high reset in Mexico City, following a rock-bottom start to the season, the Astros need to keep their wheels rolling. If you’ve ran out of fuel while driving, you can empathize with stepping on the gas with your last teaspoon in the tank, coasting downhill to make it to the next rest stop, and hoping for no stop signs. Loperfido may be one of the last few drops of gas left in a farm system ranked 27th — only above the Marlins, Angels, and Royals, all of whom have a prospect in the top 100 (which the Astros don’t). Even with Joey’s jolt, do the Astros have a rest stop to roll towards?
One point that ALCS-less, non-Astros fans are eager to forget is that nearly the entire starting rotation began the 2024 season on the IL. With the exception of a couple starts from Framber Valdez who then got injured, and great starts from Christian Javier (who also ended up on the IL), the Astros played half of their first 30 games against the World Series-defending Texas Rangers (twice), MLB offensive-best Atlanta Braves, and AL East-leading New York Yankees, all without Justin Verlander, Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia, or Jose Urquidy.
On one hand, therefore, the Astros just need to get their staff healthy. Sure, it’s fair to quit the pity-party so H-town doesn’t sound like Aaron Boone blaming the “roof open” in the 2022 ALCS for its struggles, and it’s at least diligent to inquire why Dana Brown and company (Reggie Jackson, Jeff Bagwell, and Jim Crane) allowed the two viable, non-Snell/Monty, free agent arms in Michael Lorenzen and Johnny Cueto to land with their division rival the Texas Rangers, especially when they knew they had a crippled staff going into the season. But, it’s true: the Astros’s rotation has become a revolving door between Triple and even Double A (Blair Henley). Until the Mexico series, they were just trying to find guys to eat innings. For the entire 2023 season, the Astros’ rotation used 24 different arms. In 2024, that number is already up to 23. However, with Valdez, Javier, and Verlander back on the mound or at least on the mend, and with an easier month of May coming up – two series a-piece against the A’s and bat-less Mariners, in addition to facing the ailing Angels and Twins at least once – a rest stop, or perhaps even a respite, is in sight.
On the other hand, the issue isn’t circumstantial; the Astros’ woes have more to do with their glaring first base problem. Over their dynastic, 2017-present day run, the Astros’ first base position was predominantly patrolled by 2021 Gold Glove winner, Yuli Gurriel. If we cut the following graphic with a bit of a butter knife and set aside the COVID-year, where the sign-stealing scandal and a shortened season skew statistics with at worst a small sample size, Houston’s first basemen hadn’t batted below .270 until Gurriel’s age 37 season in 2022. There, he batted .231 with a paltry 77 wRC+. Yet, Yuli held it down on defense and turned it on in the Postseason, 1-dotting in the ALDS and batting .316 in the World Series, and most notably, only costing $8 million.
Astros First Basemen Stats by Season (Fangraphs)
Again, exempting COVID and Abreu’s tenure (2023-2024), Houston has expected an average .765 OPS, 109 wRC+, and .439 slugging percentage out of the first base position over its dynastic span. In Abreu’s own age 37 season, here in 2024, the numbers have plummeted:
Jose Abreu 2024 numbers (bRef)
The point isn’t to harp on Abreu, age, or even special advisor, interim “GM” Jeff Bagwell, who, in the wake of the 2022 World Series victory, played a major role in signing Jose to a 3-year, $59 million deal — it’s that first base is a premium position for providing offense. If you’re not going to get bat speed from older players, at least you can get gold glove defense (2022 season Gurriel). But when you’re not getting either, it magnifies the offensive black hole. For the 2024 Astros, their only first base options have been minor league-optionless Jon Singleton and .099 batting average Jose Abreu. We don’t even need to talk about exit velocity. If you’ve tuned in to the Space City home network, play-by-play Todd Kalas’ ecstasy over a bloop single or should’ve-been-scored-an-error “base hit” by Singleton or Abreu says it all.
Enter Loperfido. A classic Astros prospect, he isn’t even on the Top 100. This is part of the Houston formula — perennial All-Stars Framber Valdez, Yordan Alvarez, and other notable homegrown talent like setup man Bryan Abreu, hitting-catcher Yainer Diaz, and 2022 rookie gold glover, ALCS and World Series MVP, Jeremy Pena, all escaped the Top 100 list.
The way Loperfido talks about being a student of swing shows a passion for the game. Between measured, calm conversation on the “Call Up” podcast, Loperfido sounds informed but humble – focused and curious but not neurotically-obsessed. Astros manager Joe Espada noted how comfortable Loperfido was in the clubhouse during spring training, carrying himself like a professional and even cooking his teammates a full paella dinner from scratch. Loperfido brings a confidence and creativity that the Astros have been lacking. Altuve is the heart of the culture and the face of the franchise. Pena is the youthful spirit. Alvarez is the guy you want coming up when Robbie Ray is on the mound with 2 on, 2 outs, down 2 in the ALDS. But since the departure of Springer and Correa, and this season, Michael Brantley, the Astros need a strong personality.
Dubbed “Mario” after his grandfather, and the “italian stallion” by teammates, there’s a chance Joey Loperfido becomes the cocky-but-compatible teammate the Astros dugout needs in these dire times. Let’s see if he can cut down on his strikeouts, but if he can hit even a single home run, he’ll have hit more than the Astros’ other two first base options combined. If the train is going to keep rolling in Houston, it needs a spark, and more than a sub-.500 opponent stretch of baseball. The Astros need energy and to remember who they are: a franchise that finds and believes in the unexpected prospects that become the playoff heroes of tomorrow.
