MOVING ON UP!
Houston Astros have a new plan in place to address their biggest weakness
Apr 29, 2024, 3:19 pm
Joey Loperfido is joining the big league club. Composite Getty Image.
The Houston Astros are promoting first baseman Joey Loperfido from Triple-A Sugar Land as they try to solve problems at the position.
The team announced Monday that Loperfido will be added to the roster before the start of Tuesday night’s series against Cleveland.
Joey Loperfido is H-Town bound. #Relentless pic.twitter.com/yIQulY7lTm
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 29, 2024
The move comes with veteran first baseman José Abreu off to a terrible start as the Astros have limped out to a 9-19 record, which is the second-worst in the American League. Abreu, who is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract, is hitting .099 with just one extra-base hit and three RBIs. In 77 plate appearances across 22 games this season, the 37-year-old has managed just seven hits.
The left-handed Loperfido will join the Astros after getting off to a terrific start in Sugar Land where he hit .287 with 13 homers and 27 RBIs in 25 games. The 13 homers lead the minor leagues and he's tied for third with 17 extra-base hits.
The 24-year-old, who is rated as Houston’s No. 6 prospect by MLB.com, was a seventh-round pick from Duke in the 2021 amateur draft. Loperfido, who is also an outfielder, spent four seasons in the team’s minor league system and was named Astros minor league player of the year last season.
Pitchers have nightmares about this man.
Joey Loperfido’s 13th home run of the season leads all of professional baseball 👏
📏 428 FT pic.twitter.com/XlxF821Azm
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) April 28, 2024
The Astros will make a corresponding roster move Tuesday when he is activated.
Houston Astros shake things up trying to halt the spiral
Jul 29, 2025, 4:13 pm
Houston ace Framber Valdez expressed frustration about the defensive positioning on a play in the sixth inning Monday night that led to the only run he allowed in the Astros’ 2-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.
There were two outs in the sixth when Valdez walked Josh Bell. Nathaniel Lowe’s groundball double to the right field corner scored Bell and tied the game at 1.
Valdez wasn’t happy that right fielder Taylor Trammell was shifted halfway to center field instead of in right field on the play.
“I saw the right fielder playing center field and, you know, we have a center fielder for that,” Valdez told reporters in Spanish through a translator. “I feel like the right fielder should have been playing right field. I was uncomfortable with that.”
Valdez was asked if he addressed the positioning with the coaching staff.
“I don’t have to ask the coaches about that,” he said. “I feel like baseball is a game of common sense. With me as a lefty pitcher, they don’t hit a lot of fly balls against me.”
Valdez allowed three hits and a run while tying a season high with 12 strikeouts in six innings to become the 10th pitcher in franchise history to reach 1,000 career strikeouts (1,007).
You can see where the right fielder was positioned in the video below.
hi lowe pic.twitter.com/6hKlolMnTU
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 29, 2025
Riley Adams hit a solo homer in the seventh inning to give Washington the win and extend Houston’s skid to a season-high five games.