Joey Loperfido had some positive impact for Houston prior to departing for points north.
This offseason, I’m tackling the whole crew. Every player to appear in a game for the Astros in 2024 has been ranked from one through 55. I’ve been diving into the top 40 of those since the start of the end. Right in the middle, with 27 players below him and 27 players above him, we have Joey Loperfido.
I used BFxERA+ to calculate the pitchers and PAxOPS+ to figure the position players (and designated hitters). This simple process allows me to set the team up in sequential order.
55. Grae Kessinger
54. Cooper Hummel
53. Pedro Leon
52. Aledmys Diaz
51. Jacob Ayama
50. Wander Suero
49. Miguel Diaz
48. Dylan Coleman
47. Forrest Whitley
46. Blair Henley
45. Joel Kuhnel
44. Jose Abréu
43. Alex Speas
42. Luis Contreras
41. Nick Hernandez
40. Parker Mushinski
39. Jake Bloss
38. Shay Whitcomb
37. Cesar Salazar
36. Zach Dezenzo
35. Héctor Neris
34. Brandon Bielak
33. Trey Cabbage
32. J.P. France
31. Jason Heyward
30. Ben Gamel
29. Caleb Ferguson
Joey Loperfido is a six-foot-three, 220 lb. left-handed hitting and righty throwing leftfielder from Philadelphia, PA. Born on May 11, 1999, he was a seventh-round selection of Houston in 2021 out of Duke University.
In 2022, Loperfido was named to the Carolina League All-Star Team for his performance with the Single-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers, with a .304/.399/.473 with 30 stolen bases in 82 games. He ranked seventh with a .473 SLG, sixth with an .872 OPS, fifth with a .304 BA and a .379 BABIP, and fourth with a .399 OBP.
Going into 2023, Joey was Houston’s number 17 prospect according to Baseball America. He ranked fourth in the Texas League with a .548 SLG, third with a .455 secondary average, and second with a .940 OPS and a .252 ISO while with the Corpus Christi Hooks. In 84 games at the Double-A level, he hit .296/.392/.548 with 19 jacks, 20 stolen bases, and 57 RBI.
In 2024, Loperfido opened the year with the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys, and in the early part of the season led the Pacific Coast League in homers, eventually collecting 13 in 39 games before his promotion to the major league team.
Loperfido made his major league debut for the Astros on April 30, going one-for-five with a pair of RBI in a 10-9, 10-inning win over the Cleveland Guardians. On June 21, he got his first three-hit game, with two doubles and a single in s 14-11 victory against the Baltimore Orioles. On July 10, he got the more difficult half of a cycle, notching a triple and a home run in a 9-1 squeaker against the Miami Marlins.
Houston was 23-16 in games in which Loperfido appeared, and 32-35 in games he did not before his trade to the Toronto Blue Jays. For a little context, the Astros were 33-22 after he left. In his partial season with Houston, he slashed .236/.299/.358 with two home runs, two stolen bases (in three atttempts), and 16 RBI. He scored 11 times, going 25-for-106 with seven walks and 43 K’s, with five doubles and a triple.
Defensively, Loperfido regularly flashed the leather across the outfield, with errorless performances in right field (93 innings, 20 putouts), center field (32 innings, six putouts), and left field (147 1⁄3 innings, 57 putouts, one assist). Across all three positions, Joey was worth six defensive runs saved better than the “average” American League outfielder over 272 1⁄3 innings. That translates to 2.9 defensive bWAR over a full 1200 inning season.
According to MLB.COM’s Savant, Loperfido was below average in most advanced batting metrics, with the exceptions being slightly above average bat-speed (72.9 MPH) and well-above average of 40.7 percent contact with the “sweet spot.” He also ranks in the 88th percentile of sprint speed, booking it at 28.8 fps.
On July 29, Houston traded Loperfido with Jake Bloss and Will Wagner to the Toronto Blue Jays for Yusei Kikuchi. Although many in the baseball Twittersphere thought that this was not an even trade, Kikuchi really proved his mettle once he joined Houston’s rotation. The club won his first nine starts, and only lost his 10th with a poor defensive showing.
After the trade, Loperfido hit .197/.236/.343 with a pair of jacks and nine RBI. He currently remains on Toronto’s 40-man roster, and is expected to enter the 2025 season in the mix for a starting spot in their outfield.