In one of four roster moves made before Saturday’s game against the Rays, the Astros optioned struggling outfielders Jake Meyers and Joey Loperfido to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Meyers, a Gold Glove finalist in 2024 and the Astros’ third longest tenured position player, went hitless in Friday’s 3-1 loss to the Rays, dropping his batting average to .206 for the season. He’s posted a .167/.231/.250 slash line since June 2, and he’s started just three of the Astros’ previous 10 games.
“He’s helped us to win
a lot of games, helped us win a lot of postseason games,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He’s part of this organization’s success, but he understood it. We’re going to help him. We’ve pinpointed some things that he’s going to be working on in Triple-A.”
Loperfido, who was re-acquired in a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays at the start of spring training, is batting .136 since returning from the injured list June 4.
In search of offense for an outfield struggling to muster any, the Astros recalled Zach Dezenzo from Triple-A and reinstated LaMonte Wade Jr. from the injured list.
Wade was 4 for 12 with a home run in four games with the Astros after signing as a free agent on June 4. He landed on the IL with a right hamstring strain on June 9.
Dezenzo, 26, batted .191 in 21 games with the Astros earlier this season before being optioned to Triple-A on June 5.
“(We’re trying to see) if having Wade and Dezenzo can spark something up and see if we can get something going,” Espada said.
The Astros entered Saturday’s game with a 43-47 record, three games back of Texas for first place in the American League West.
