Joey Loperfido, Jake Bloss, and Wil Wagner came to us from the Astros in a trade for Yusei Kikuchi. It will be a great trade if one of those three guys works out.
Loperfido is a 25-year-old (26 in May) left-handed hitting outfielder. He can play all three outfield positions. Joey was #18 on the Astros’ prospect list in 2023. MLB Pipeline said:
Loperfido found more success by overhauling his approach and toning down his left-handed swing. He improved his quality of contact and cut down on his strikeouts while drawing more walks. The next step will be to adjust his swing mechanics so he can drive the ball in the air more consistently and make better use of his solid raw power.
A good athlete, Loperfido has solid speed and the instincts to use it to steal bases and cover ground in the outfield. He’s an average defender with fringy arm strength in center field and a bit better suited for left. He played first and second base in his first two years at Duke and again in 2022, but he doesn’t fit the power profile at first and he’s not smooth at second.
He won’t be on Prospect lists this year as he no longer has his rookie status, having played too much in the majors last year.
In 2023, Joey hit .278/.370/.510 with 25 home runs and 27 steals in 124 games, split between A, Double A and Triple A. Last year, he hit .272/.365/.568 with 13 home runs in 39 games at Triple-A Sugerland before the Astros called him up. He hit .236/.299/.359 for them before the trade to Toronto.
I like guys with power and speed.
He played 43 games with the Jays, hitting .197/.236/.343 with 2 home runs, 3 triples, and 8 doubles.
He struck out too much, 36.3% in the majors last year, and didn’t walk enough, 5%. Joey’s strikeout rate wasn’t that high in the minors, and his walk rate was better in the minors.
There was a post on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) saying that he’s made a change to his batting stance:
Big changes on the hand placement for Joey Loperfido. He said he’s “in a better spot to handle verty stuff and has a little more depth in his bat path” pic.twitter.com/4NPRmgNwxj
— Avery Chenier (@AveryChenier) January 9, 2025
Of course, with the Santander signing, Loperfido doesn’t have a position on the team, though it is likely that Daulton Varsho will start the season on the IL. But then, I don’t know if the Jays like Joey in center field. There is an open spot at DH. And I don’t know how much rope the Jays will give George Springer if he starts this year like last year.
Loperfido has two option years left, which is good for the Jays, maybe less good for Joey.
I like Loperfido a lot, but I think he’s the type that will need some patience from the team to show us what he can do, and I’m not sure the Jays are an organization that has patience for young players. And I think they will be far less patient this year because jobs are hanging in the balance.
The best thing Joey could do for himself is to have a great spring and force the team to make room for him on the roster. In a perfect world, some team would be dumb enough to take Springer’s contract, and Joey would be our full-time right (or likely left) fielder.
Steamer isn’t very optimistic about Loperfido’s 2025 season. It feels Joey will hit .218/.283/.361 with 4 home runs in 37 games.