The Astros will call up Joey Loperfido prior to Tuesday’s game against the Guardians, KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander reports (via X). Loperfido isn’t on Houston’s 40-man roster, so the Astros will have to make at least one roster move to find room for the first baseman/outfielder.
Rumors about Loperfido’s promotion have swirled ever since Spring Training, when the young slugger drew attention with an 1.076 OPS over 41 Grapefruit League plate appearances. He kept swinging a hot bat through the start of the Triple-A season, taking a .276/.376/.684 slash line through his first 117 PA of the minor league season. Loperfido has also gone yard 13 times, as he launched his 13th home run of the young season in Triple-A Sugar Land’s 10-5 win today over the Reno Aces.
While such absurd numbers would make any prospect seem like a candidate for their MLB debut, Loperfido’s production has particularly stood out given how little the Astros have received from the first base position. Jose Abreu is hitting .099/.156/.113 over 77 PA this season, translating to an astonishing -21 wRC+. Though Abreu also struggled for much of the 2023 season, his rebound near the end of the year and his good showing in the playoffs led to some hope that the veteran had gotten on track, yet Abreu has limped out of the gates with the worst stretch of his career.
MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently explored Abreu’s situation, noting that Abreu’s contract (roughly $16.25MM remaining this season and $19.5MM in 2025) has certainly made the Astros wary about sitting him down, or even releasing Abreu entirely. If Loperfido isn’t going to entirely supplant Abreu, however, Jon Singleton certainly seems like a potential cut given how Singleton is batting only .238/.319/.286 over 47 PA. Since Singleton and Loperfido are both left-handed hitters, having Loperfido take over as the complementary first option alongside the right-handed hitting Abreu seems like a logical move for Houston. Trey Cabbage was also on the roster as the 27th man for this weekend’s series with the Rockies in Mexico City, but Cabbage is probably more likely to head back to Triple-A.
A seventh-round pick for the Astros in the 2021 draft, Loperfido (who turns 25 in two weeks) didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, as he posted strong numbers in each of his first two minor league seasons. He moved up the ladder quickly enough to make his Triple-A debut in 2023, though his .235/.333/.403 slash line in 138 PA with Sugar Land last year didn’t hint at his eye-popping breakout in store for 2024.
Both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America ranked Loperfido sixth on their preseason lists of Houston’s best prospects, noting his raw power potential but also highlighting his possible contributions as more than just a slugging first baseman. Indeed, Loperfido has spent more time as an outfielder than as a first baseman, with the bulk of his minor league innings coming in center field. Loperfido could therefore find himself getting some at-bats as a left fielder or center fielder in place of Chas McCormick or Jake Meyers — both are right-handed hitters, and McCormick isn’t producing much at the plate. Loperfido also brings some good speed to the table, with 64 steals in 79 attempts during his minor league career.
Loperfido’s 30.8% strikeout rate at Triple-A is certainly cause for concern, plus some grain of salt must always be applied to numbers posted in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. It should also be noted that while Abreu has been a glaring weak spot in the lineup, the Astros are hitting quite well on the whole, as pitching (and injuries within the rotation) has been the much bigger reason behind the team’s unexpectedly slow start. Houston therefore doesn’t need Loperfido to be an immediate star right away, and frankly, the bar has been set so low by Abreu and Singleton that even average production from Loperfido would represent a nice upgrade.
Its about time.
It’s not the space-time continuum?
That 40-man spot comes from either a 60-day transfer for Urquidy, maybe an Amaya DFA or… Jose Abreu,
I’d guess Singleton. He’s out of options and owner Jim Crane is too proud to admit the Abreu mistake.
Singleton or Abreu DFA forthcoming?
Singleton I’m sure. They owe Abreu way too much to just give him away.
If he continues to play like this, the amount they owe him won’t matter. At a certain point he’s taking up a roster spot. Mets dumped Cano despite owing him a lot of money, for a example.
Correct about different owners but incorrect to think Jim Crane isn’t willing to just dump salary for a roster spot. They cut Singleton the first time after giving him 10 million over 5yrs before he ever played his first big league game. Singleton couldn’t stay clean (weed) and they cut him regardless of still on the hook for the remaining salary. The precedence has already been set within the organization to cut bait for a roster spot. If they want to keep both Cabbage and Loperfido up they could DFA Singleton, reassign Kessinger to AAA to keep him getting reps at third.
Abreu for Benintendi? Just trying to start a salary dump trade scenario conversation.
Even Benintendi has more trade value than Abreu at this point lol
I can’t see the White Sox doing that, although they’re the one team that would have positive views on Abreu based on his years of high performance for them. They’re rebuilding though and have Vaughn at 1B. They let Abreu leave to open up 1B for him, IIRC, so a salary dump doesn’t make sense for them.
I think it’d be worth 16.9 million this year and the 19.whatever they owe for next year just to say good riddance.
I doubt it will be Abreu… He’s still owned one more season after this one
Excited for this guy. Seems like his head is in the right spot and his numbers speak for themselves. I think he is poised to be a catalyst to get the Astros on track.
Astros should sue Jose abreu for lying about his age. I would demand a real birth certificate for his 40+ year old self
I should sue you for wasting my time reading this garbage
Astros should sue the Sox for scamming, astros thought they were getting a top 10 first baseman but they got a grandpa instead
Not only the white but also sue the Red Sox for being the Red Sox
It didn’t say enough that the Sox didn’t resign their team leader and most popular player? Hell, he was my favorite player and I couldn’t believe the contract the Stros gave him.
Everyone in Chicago knew he was nearing the end. Just a plain old mistake by the Astros.
He always has sub par takes with no basis.
Aroldis Garcia steroid jab incoming.
And believe me I know it’s Adolis, it’s him who doesn’t.
1 hot dog is more than enough for me.
Mario Joseph Loperfido
Sounds like a bookie from my hometown who wears adidas tracksuits
Yo Cuz, he’s Joey from South Philly!
Bro drove a 95 Cadillac DeVille at 1 point
I’ve heard that Joey believes anyone who cheats is a jabroni.
Actually from South Jersey
Snoopy- if you couldn’t tell by some of my articulate and wholesome replies on articles on this site, I am indeed originally from the tri-state area 🙂
Actually, born in Philadelphia. But we can have some fun here, right Cuz?
Idgaf what anyone says I love Philly (I’m a native NYer)
Born and raised in Philadelphia, lived in London for years, and currently live in the Bay Area. Philadelphia is a great city.
On the playground is where I spent most of my days.
I hope he hits the ground running and never looks back. Not a big Astros fan but I love watching these young guys do well
Urkel complains about letting fans being overly emotional. Proceeds to post a bizarrely emotional rant over someone saying he isn’t a fan of the Astros.
You mentioned “other teams” and “fanbases like the Yankees” in your rant. You didn’t simply state it was a players being ‘all goody-two-shoes Steve Urkel from Family Matters’ type of ordeal. If anything, Astros fans are the best at projecting things.
@Steinbrenner I think you are delusional, and it’s entirely because you’re a Yankees fan. Two worst fans in all of sports are Yankees fans and Cowboys fans. Both fan bases are delusional and have a false sense of grandeur about the championships that once were. Every year is your year, and yet, no year is your year anymore.
It’s never your team’s fault either. Always blaming someone else, or blaming an injury, or this or that. And before you start crying about 2017, remember several facts:
the Yankees also got caught cheating in 2017
The Yankees sued MLB to keep documents sealed that had a more significat outline of their cheating in 2017 (and prior).
No team has a greater documented history and/or accusations than the Yankees (steroids anyone?)
Awe heck yeah!
For some reason people think there is a hard rule that you have to have lefty/righty in a platoon. This is really illogical because a lot of lefties hit lefties, and a lot of righties hit righties.
If it were up to me, obviously it’s not, I would get rid of both Singleton and Abreu and keep Cabbage and Loperfido. If they absolutely must have a right handed guy play first base sometimes, there’s always Dubon, Yainer Diaz and Caratini (all 3 have first base experience).
I think that ideology is one of the dumbest that baseball has. Stupidity like that contributes to attracting new fans, not the time between pitches. If a guy can’t hit a pitcher because of the arm he throws with, he’s probably not very good anyways.
Exactly. If you look at the numbers Tucker and Alvarez actually hit left handers better, yet you always see opposing managers bringing in lefties to face them
Certainly worth a look, although he’s a bit of a quasi-prospect considering he’s already in his mid-20s, was drafted as a four-year college senior back in the seventh round after being past over in the prior year’s draft, and then still spent parts of four seasons in the minors. The power numbers are intriguing, but they’re from the PCL, and the K percentage isn’t comforting, which might be even more worrisome considering AAA uses the automated ball strike zone
Definitely worth a look over Singelton, as well as Abreu, but the latter isn’t going anywhere yet with that bad deal.
His timeline with college and making his major league debut at age 24 is exactly like another guy you may have heard of, Aaron Judge. So…
@MuteButton It would be hard to make a comment more contemptuous of the human intellect than yours. You didn’t even get the age right.
‘[Exception to the rule]’ as if it means anything other than there’s an exception to the original statement.
Didn’t get whose age right?
Hahaha. Oh I did get the age right. There’s this thing called Google – try it
@LordD99 Probably so wrt Abreu, but it shouldn’t matter if the Astros think he’s done. The dead don’t come back to life just because you bury them with silver dollars in their pockets.
Liperfido sounds like a Quad-A guy. Still better than what they have though. No real prospect pedigree here. Just somebody taking advantage of the elevation in Reno and Albuquerque.
I am happy the Astros r bringing up this player he can help the Astros where they need help at..AAAA
I expected this to come. How much longer can you wait on Abreu. I think Abreu stays. Contract and more. Would have to release him and have his permission even to put in minors.
Loperfido could be what is needed. Not sure how the lineup will be with him.
Cabbage think goes back to AAA. He was only an extra roster spot that Houston was allowed for the Mexico series. Granted I would take him too as an outfield option. LF platoon as Chas is iffy. Meyers too as not using either as was thought would be for the season. Telling someone going to be main CF like Meyers and have used Dubon and Chas. Chas isn’t ripping cover off but is better than Abreu. But my guess could be Singleton and use Loperfido more with First base or for a L/R platoon not sure. Guess we shall find out between now and Tuesday more on what they do. I am sure Singleton or Abreu would make headlines. Even Chas/Meyers or such. I am not sure how much OF time Cabbage has had or 1B even when was with Angels and such. But will take anything over Abreu or Singleton. Sad what their careers came to inear the end for them. Abreu just did not fit here for some reason.
In his limited time in the majors with the Angels he had 10 games in the outfield and 9 at 1B. In the minors he has more innings played in the outfield, a majority of that in left and right. He has been getting more time at first since 2023 though.
Glad to hear it. I understand Loperfido plays a good CF too, so I’m wondering if Meyers might be the one getting cut. Though Singleton would be my first choice too.
Surely Singleton must go. How he ever got within a mile of a MLB roster is beyond me.
The reason he got a major-league spot is because he was absolutely tearing up AAA last year
And batted .165 in the majors last year.
I’m happy as long as it’s him or Abreu (or both). He only made the squad because he was out of minor league options, which shows how incompetent our GM is. He really thinks teams are clamoring for a one trick pony who isn’t even good at his trick.
When you’ve got a CFer with a 1.100-plus OPS, maybe you just let him rip.
He also hasn’t had a K-rate near 30% except at AAA, and that’s in 57 games. When 1B-CF is Abreu, Singleton, and Meyers (.280 OBP in 2024, 83 OPS+ in 2022-2024), time to see what the new guy’s got.
the only reason singleton is even playing is because of his past, abreu just cant hit, and Meyer isn’t horrible, he has a 111 ops+ 3 homers and a .730 OPS. which isn’t the worst, still better than singleton and abreu combined. :3
Also, Singleton isn’t defensively versatile like Loperfido or Cabbage. I would like to have seen a larger sample size for Singleton.
Most honest team in MLB since they completely stopped their (low level) “cheating” (debatable) and completely made up for it. Meanwhile, every other team in MLB continues much much much higher level cheating to the present day all while lying about it. Best and most underrated city in America. Best fanbase in America. Most underrated sports team in America. Most underrated stadium in all of international sports.
The next time they’re referred to as the “Trashtros” or any mention of “cheating” is made, theres going to be a problem.
You’ve been repeating this exact thing for months/years and it hasn’t stopped anyone from calling them the cheating trashtros
I think that is just some obese man-child who still lives with mommy and occasionally takes breaks from Call of Duty and pizza rolls to try and troll this site.
4.7 second 40 yard dash.
If F&B isn’t working on a sauerkraut dog for Trey Cabbage’s debut…
No risk whatsoever in cutting Singleton, none. Bring him up, he’s a 7 year man and low cost. At 25 it’s sink or swim. Singleton has sunk. Time to move on. This is the easiest problem to solve this season, as the manager is looming large as with third base. Detroit has a first baseman who’s not even had a in the park H.R, and the whole city is on edge. This is the simplest problem/solution in the majors today.
He can’t be worse than Singleton and Abreu.