Astros’ Joey Loperfido Earns Quick Bump To Double-A

On the verge of celebrating his 24th birthday, Joey Loperfido wasted no time making his presence felt after the Astros promoted him to Double-A Corpus Christi in late April.

Loperfido hit four home runs over his first four Texas League games. He had hit one in eight games at High-A Asheville to begin the season.

In April he hit .349/.423/.697 with five homers and six stolen bases in 16 games.

“In the last two offseasons he took a lot of time to work on his physicality,” Astros farm director Sara Goodrum said of Loperfido. “He put on some good muscle and took ownership of his development.”

The Astros drafted the 6-foot-3, 220-pound slugger from Duke in the seventh round in 2021. Last year he struck 12 home runs while batting .316/.408/.492 in 108 games between Asheville and Low-A Fayetteville.  

Loperfido played the outfield at Duke, but the lefthanded hitter has added second and first base in the Astros’ farm system. 

Loperfido is athletic enough for Goodrum to project him as a prospect who can play center field in the majors. But he can also play the right side of the infield.

His versatility was on display early at Corpus, where he had started at second base, right field, first base and center field. 

“Just continue to hit, honestly,” Goodrum said when asked what Loperfido needs to do to continue his march to the majors. “He plays good defense, but he’s really started to refine his approach at the plate to limit the chase.

“He has got bat-to-ball skills. He has the ability to hit the ball hard.”