Tag: Kyle Tucker

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 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.

Yankees’ Luis Severino catches Kyle Tucker stealing home while the pitcher was fixing his PitchCom device

Well, this was certainly an attempt by Kyle Tucker.

Luis Severino was not going to be fooled by Kyle Tucker here.

On Thursday, the New York Yankees were facing the Houston Astros down 2-0 in the bottom of the third. With two runners on in scoring position and two outs, the Yankees needed a big stop or the Astros were set to pile on more runs.

Thankfully, pitcher Severino got the Yankees out of the bind by… seemingly fooling Tucker into stealing home while the man on the mound was adjusting the PitchCom device in his ear. Yeah, we’ve never seen this one before.

With Severino occupied, Tucker tried to get the jump on the Yankees by stealing home. Severino, however, had other plans, as he was able to throw out Tucker in his brazen attempt to steal home!

Tucker certainly tried there and to be fair, it was pretty close. Stealing home, however, is hard to do, and Severino showcased exactly why on this play.

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