Big, big return for the Blue Jays from the Astros, per sources: For Yusei Kikuchi, they'll receive RHP Jake Bloss, 1B/OF Joey Loperfido and IF Will Wagner, the son of former Houston great Billy Wagner.
Getting to know Joey Loperfido, the Blue Jays’ highest-ranked outfield prospect
Photo credit: © Thomas Shea - USA Today
Jul 29, 2024, 23:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 29, 2024, 22:59 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays are having a great trade deadline.
Their most recent move saw them trade rental starter Yusei Kikuchi to the Houston Astros in exchange for Jake Bloss, Will Wagner, and Joey Loperfido. We’ve already gotten to know Bloss, you can read his article here, as well as Wagner, you can read his article here. In this article, we’ll get to know Loperfido.
The 25-year-old outfielder/first baseman was selected in the seventh-round of the 2021 draft by the Astros. He had an unremarkable first half-season with the team, slashing .116/.276/.261 in 87 plate appearances in 2021 with their High-A team.
Between Single-A and High-A in 2022, Loperfido slashed .316/.408/.492 with 12 home runs in 461 plate appearances, good enough for a 148 wRC+. The outfielder was great in 2023 as well between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, as he slashed .278/.370/.510 with 25 home runs in 540 plate appearances for a 125 wRC+. His home run total would’ve been second in the Blue Jays organization last season.
Loperfido continued his momentum in Triple-A to begin the 2024 season, as he slashed .272/.365/.568 with 13 home runs in just 189 plate appearances, along with an 11.1 BB% and a 28 K% for a 121 wRC+. Now, the Pacific Coast League usually plays in high altitudes, but at this point, he had a track record of hitting well in the minor leagues.
How do we put into words Joey Loperfido’s performance tonight? Masterful. His third home run of the game is a GRAND one!
The Astros called him up to the big leagues at the end of April, and he had several stints with them. Overall, the 25-year-old is slashing .236/.299/.358 with two home runs in 118 plate appearances. More concerning is his 36.4 K%, while his usually high BB% has dropped to 5.9% in the big leagues.
Defensively, he’s been solid in the outfield, accumulating 2 Defensive Runs Saved and 0 Outs Above Average in 272.1 innings in the outfield. He’s also played three innings at first base.
Although Loperfido has graduated from MLB Pipeline’s list, he ranked as the team’s fifth-best prospect coming into the 2024 season. Baseball America’s midseason update had him ranked as the Astros fifth-best prospect.
Looking at Loperfido’s midseason MLB Pipeline bio from the 2023 season, he made improvements to his swing as well as his approach. The publication gave him 50 grades in each hit and power, while he’s also a solid runner and average defender. Of course, after a terrific 2023 season, those grades surely improved.
All in all, the Blue Jays got a haul for Yusei Kikuchi, as they received three MLB-ready prospects with either a high floor (Will Wagner) or high ceilings (Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido). It’s exciting to see what the team does before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.
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