Loperfido keeps blasting off for Space Cowboys

Since 2013, only two batters in Triple-A have started the season loaded with power, launching 12 home runs between March and April, and both hail from the same organization -- Yordan Alvarez and now Joey Loperfido.

The Astros’ No. 6 prospect reached the dozen dinger mark after going yard twice in his 21st game of the season on Wednesday night. In doing so, Lopefido matched the Alvarez record set in 2019 – also in his 21st game.

In Sugar Land’s 19-6 loss to Reno on Wednesday night at Greater Nevada Field, the 24-year-old only saw two pitches from Humberto Castellanos before launching the D-backs right-hander's slider for his 11th home run of the season 457 feet at 106.2 mph – the longest one he has hit this season and the sixth-longest by a Triple-A batter in 2024.

Loperfido didn’t stop there. In the fifth inning, the left-handed hitter took Castellanos out of the yard again on a 1-1 slider, sending it 427 feet to center field at 107.5 mph. That marked his third multi-homer game of the season, and after adding a single in the seventh, he ended the night 3-for-5.

The 2021 seventh-round pick doesn't consider himself to be a power hitter, but his knack for the long ball earned Loperfido Pacific Coast League Player of the Week honors on April 14. He hit his first 10 home runs of the season over a 13-game span.

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Entering Wednesday, the Duke product had cooled down from his hot start to the season, going 2-for-24 in his past six games. But with the two taters, Loperfido became the outright home run leader in all of professional baseball, passing Baltimore’s Heston Kjerstad (MLB's No. 29 prospect) and two-time MVP Mike Trout.

Loperfido has already matched the home run total he posted in 2022 between Single-A Fayetteville and High-A Asheville. After posting a career-high 25 last year over three levels, time will tell if continuing to show off his power will launch him to Space City sooner rather than later.