Joey

Loperfido

The Astros said that the surgery was to “address a labral injury and hip impingement that were identified shortly after the season ended.” Loperfido is not expected to miss time during the regular season, but he will be behind in spring training, which could make it hard for him to make the MLB roster out of camp.

Loperfido struck out in his only at-bat in two days with the team. That the Astros seem to think he’s a weaker outfield option than Taylor Trammell, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Jorge Barrosa wouldn’t seem to bode well for his chances of remaining on the 40-man roster this winter.

Loperfido provides Houston with a left-handed corner outfield option while Taylor Trammell is away from the club on paternity leave.

Loperfido returns to the minors after hitting just .136 (6-for-44 with one homer in 19 games since returning from the injured list back on June 9. The 27-year-old former prospect projects as a strong-side platoon option at this stage of his development, but he simply hasn’t hit enough to make that happen this season.

Loperfido entered the game as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded in the ninth and ended up reaching on catcher’s interference. It scored the first run of a two-run rally to even the game at 6-6. That was still the score with two outs in the top of the 11th when Loperfido yanked a 1-2 curveball to right, keeping it just fair down the line. It was his first homer in 98 plate appearances since the Astros reacquired him from the Blue Jays for Jesús Sánchez this spring. He’s hitting .238/.337/.357 as an occasional starter against right-handers. The Astros played him both Sunday and Monday, but they picked Taylor Trammell and Brice Matthews over him initially against Shane Bieber today.

With Lamonte Wade Junior landing on the injured list, the Astros will turn back to Loperfido to fill the role as a left-handed bat in the outfield. Loperfido was put on the injured list with a strained quad back on April 17th and then was sent to the minors once he was activated.

Loperfido had been sidelined since April 18 due to a right quad strain. He had been on a minor league rehab assignment since May 23 and now will remain at Triple-A Sugar Land for the time being until a need for his services arises at the Major League level.

Loperfido is finally ready to jump back into game action for the first time since hitting the shelf back with a right quad strain back in mid-April. The 27-year-old will need a couple games to get back up to speed before he’s an option for Houston’s outfield mix again.

As expected, Loperfido will be sidelined for at least a week while he continues to work his way through a right quad strain. Dustin Harris joined the Astros on Sunday to take Loperfido’s spot on the active roster.

Loperfido was held out Saturday with his quad injury, and the 26-year-old will likely need to miss a week-plus due to the injury. A corresponding move will be announced Sunday before the game against St. Louis.