Tag: Joey Loperfido

Former Duke baseball star Joey Loperfido wins MLB game with solo home run

Former Duke Blue Devil Joey Loperfido hit his first home run in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform on Sunday, a solo shot that turned out to be the winner.

Former Duke baseball star Joey Loperfido got to play the hero for the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.

Loperfido, who played for the Blue Devils from 2018-21, hit a solo home run against the Chicago Cubs at the iconic Wrigley Field during the top of the second inning.

While the blast came pretty early in the game, it turned out to be the game-winning shot. Chicago never scored a run, and the Blue Jays left town with a 1-0 victory.

Loperfido’s 409-foot bomb was his first for the new franchise and his third of the season. He made his MLB debut earlier this summer for the Houston Astros, and he played 38 games for that franchise before getting traded on July 30.

So far in his rookie year, Loperfido is hitting .216 with three home runs, five doubles, two triples, and 18 RBIs across 51 games. The 25-year-old sports an on-base percentage of .271 and a slugging percentage of .333.

100 Duke baseball players have now been drafted into the MLB

With the Los Angeles Angels drafting Fran Oschel III on Tuesday, MLB teams have now drafted 100 former Duke baseball players.

The Duke Blue Devils baseball team, with the Tuesday selection of Fran Oschell III, has now produced 100 MLB draft picks across program history.

Oschell, who went in the 12th round to the Los Angeles Angels, became the fourth pick of the 2024 MLB draft, following Jonathan Santucci (second round to the New York Mets), Charlie Beilenson (fifth round to the Seattle Mariners), and Nick Conte (eighth round to the Kansas City Royals).

Two Duke players have gone in the first round, both of whom left for the MLB within the last 15 years. Marcus Stroman became the first first-round pick in school history back in 2012 when the Toronto Blue Jays took him 22nd overall. Bryce Jarvis repeated the feat when the Diamondbacks took him 18th overall in 2020.

Other notable recent picks include Houston Astros outfielder [autotag]Joey Loperfido[/autotag], a seventh-round pick back in 2021 who finally reached The Show earlier this year, and right-hand pitchers Henry Williams and Marcus Johnson, who went within the first four rounds in 2022.

Outside of an abbreviated 2020 draft, the Blue Devils have now produced at least four MLB draft picks every year since 2018.

Joey Loperfido made the MLB catch of the year and it’s not even close

UNREAL!!!

It’s ok if you don’t know who Joey Loperfido is. I watch plenty of baseball and wasn’t too familiar with him, either.

I absolutely know his name now. The 25-year-old rookie had played just 24 games in The Show heading into Friday’s contest at Target Field against the Minnesota Twins when he made the catch of his life and left baseball fans breathless.

In fact, it’s pretty safe to say this is the catch of the year — especially after the Astros hung on for a much-needed 13-12 victory as they try to catch the first-place Seattle Mariners in the American League West.

Ok, enough talk. Just watch this.

In and out of the glove and caught in Loperfido’s bare hand as he’s falling down at the wall. That is just such a mind-blowing effort.

Granted, the stakes are completely different, but the play brings to mind the catch DeWayne Wise made to preserve Mark Buerhle’s perfect game in 2009.

That’s exactly the type of effort play that keeps a rookie on the roster much longer than expected. Credit to Loperfido for making a catch we’ll be talking about for at least the rest of the season.

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Former Blue Devil Joey Loperfido dazzles with potential MLB catch of the year

Former Blue Devil Joey Loperfido made the potential catch of the year against the Minnesota Twins on Friday.

The Houston Astros did not draft former Duke Blue Devil [autotag]Joey Loperfido[/autotag] for his defensive prowess. Still, during a crazy 13-12 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night, Loperfido made a phenomenal catch that will be on highlight reels for the foreseeable future.

Minnesota’s Willi Castro barrelled up a 0-1 pitch and drove it deep to right field at Target Field. Loperfido ranged to his left, inching closer to the right field fence before he leaped and snagged the baseball into his glove.

The ball fell out on the way down, but Lopefido used his non-glove hand to catch it before it hit the ground, preventing what would have been a sure extra-base hit.

Initially, it was ruled no-catch, but after an Astros review, it was determined that the ball never hit the wall once it left Loperfido’s glove, thus making it fair play for the Duke grad to secure it for the final time.

Loperfido has had a lot of runway to play with the Astros’ missing two-time All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker with a shin injury. Tucker is believed to be out through the All-Star break, meaning Loperfido will have even more opportunities to showcase himself.

Along with his terrific catch last night, he also had a two-run double that helped Houston’s cause as they continue to play much better baseball and look to fight their way into the AL West race.

Duke baseball star Joey Loperfido hits first MLB home run on Thursday night

Former Blue Devils baseball star Joey Loperfido smashed one into the stands against Oakland on Thursday night, his first big-league home run in his 11th MLB game.

The Duke baseball team beating North Carolina wasn’t the only good diamond news in Durham on Thursday night.

Joey Loperfido, the former Duke star, hit his first MLB home run on Thursday night. In his 11th MLB game, the newest Houston Astro drove a low bullet into the stands against the Oakland Athletics in front of his home crowd.

The two-run shot made it a 6-0 ballgame.

Loperfido got called up at the end of April shortly before being named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Month for his performance in the minors.

Across 34 career at-bats in the big leagues now, Loperfido is batting .324 with an on-base percentage of .378 due to his three walks. His home run on Thursday was the second extra-base hit of his career after a double two games before, and he’s already compiled five RBIs in the young season.

A seventh-round draft pick in 2021, Loperfido played for the Blue Devils from 2018-21. He was named ACC Baseball Tournament MVP when Duke took home its first conference tournament title during his senior season.

Loperfido and the Astros won the game 8-1 to round out a four-game sweep of the A’s.

Former Blue Devil Joey Loperfido named Pacific Coast League Player of the Month

Former Duke star Joey Loperfido was named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Month after he hit 10 home runs and drove home 20 runs in 22 games.

Former Duke baseball player Joey Loperfido was named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Month for April on Friday.

Loperfido, who played for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, hit 10 home runs and batted in 20 runs across 22 games in April. He ended the month with a .289 batting average.

The former Blue Devil notably hit three home runs in a single game on April 12. For the season with Sugar Land, Loperfido batted .287 with 13 home runs and 27 RBIs.

Loperfido won’t get the chance to defend his crown, however, as the Houston Astros called him up to the show this week. He drove in two runs with an RBI single in his debut game on Tuesday. He has two hits in his nine MLB at-bats thus far.

Loperfido played for the Blue Devils from 2018-21 before the Astros took him in the seventh round of the 2021 MLB draft.

Duke baseball alum Joey Loperfido called up by Houston Astros; set to make MLB debut

Duke baseball alum Joey Loperfido set to make MLB debut for the Houston Astros.

The Houston Astros have played horrific baseball to start the 2024 season, and now, with their backs against the wall and in desperate need of a spark, the Astros are looking to a former Duke baseball alum.

Former Blue Devils Joey Loperfido got called up to make his MLB debut on Tuesday when the Astros host the AL’s best team, the Cleveland Guardians.

Loperfido leads all minor league baseball with 13 home runs, including a solo bomb he smashed during his final game with the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys on Sunday. He finished the game 2-for-3, raising his OPS to 1.106 after 101 at-bats during a remarkable April.

Loperfido may not be a seasoned first baseman, but he’s had enough reps there, playing in seven games in Triple-A. His time in Durham saw him as an outfielder, so he also offers the Astros versatility defensively.

 

Houston drafted Loperfido out of Duke in the seventh round of the 2021 draft. At Duke, Loperfido started all 170 games he appeared in during his time with the Blue Devils. In his four years at Duke, Loperfido posted a .317 career batting average, collecting 201 hits, 37 doubles, nine triples, 18 home runs, and tallying 96 RBI. He drew 85 walks and held a slugging percentage of .488, adding an on-base percentage of .419. In the field, Loperfido posted a career fielding percentage of .992

Last season, he won the Astros’ Minor League Player of the Year award after slashing .278/.370/.510 with 55 extra-base hits across three levels of affiliated ball. The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked him as Houston’s sixth-best prospect before the season started.

The Astros are still led by the same core, which has helped them win two World Series: Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and Alex Bregman. However, the rest of the lineup needs a spark.

Already ten games below .500 and six games back in the American League West, the Astros can’t rely on Jose Abreu much longer as he’s become one of the worst offensive players in the league to start the season.

The game starts Tuesday at 7:10 CT / 8:10 ET at Minute Maid Park and can be seen on MLB.TV.