WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — His last name is Loperfido and he lives in Philadelphia, but paella is somehow his pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance. The recipe is handed down from his father and helped Joey Loperfido impress his girlfriend, Faith, during one of the couple’s first dates.<\/p>\n
‘All right,” Loperfido thought last week, “if I can do that for her, I can make it for these guys.”<\/p>\n
Rookies like Loperfido must introduce themselves in front of the Houston Astros’ clubhouse before each spring training workout. Major leaguers may prod the player to share any fun facts or hidden talents. Loperfido told them he loves to cook and created an entire Instagram account devoted to his dishes.<\/p>\n
Teammates and first-year manager Joe Espada asked Loperfido to prove it, so last week, the 24-year-old outfielder arrived at the Astros’ complex in a black apron and cooked three heaping pans of chorizo and shrimp paella for the entire team to sample.<\/p>\n
“I know he got some s — from one or two guys, just jokingly, but he’s able to play along with it,” Double-A teammate C.J. Stubbs said. “Stuff like that comes easy to him.”<\/p>\n
The best non-roster invitees know their place. Arriving timid is no way to make a meaningful first impression, but neither is attracting attention or acting out. Balance and self-awareness are mandatory.<\/p>\n
Loperfido found both and flourished in his first major-league spring training, authoring the sort of showing that has prompted wonder whether he could crack the Astros’ Opening Day roster. Few players in camp have performed better or opened more eyes than the prospect who doubles as “Joe Cooks.”<\/p>\n
“He sucks,” dry-witted outfielder Kyle Tucker deadpanned last week with Loperfido in earshot.<\/p>\n
Tucker is Loperfido’s locker mate — part of Houston’s plan to place prospects near major leaguers at their position. Loperfido asked whether Tucker would “be more comfortable” conducting the interview if he left the area. Tucker told him it was no problem before heaping praise on a prospect receiving a plethora of it.<\/p>\n
“He’s never too big, like, ‘Oh I’m in big league camp, I have to try to do too much or hit a homer every single time to impress people early,'” Tucker said. “He’s a really good kid. He works hard and competes out there, especially in his first full big-league camp.”<\/p>\n
Early in camp, one member of the front office labeled Loperfido “every teammate’s favorite teammate.” As it comes to a close, many in the major-league clubhouse can understand why.<\/p>\n
“I can tell this isn’t too much for him,” outfielder Chas McCormick said. “I can tell he’s going to settle into the big leagues just fine. Everybody likes him in the clubhouse. He goes about it the right way every single day. He listens – he doesn’t open his mouth about anything — and all he does is work.”<\/p>\n
“He’s a big leaguer.”<\/p>\n
Team officials share McCormick’s sentiments, but Loperfido still faces long odds to make an otherwise entrenched Opening Day roster. That he is still in major-league camp illustrates how serious the club is considering Loperfido, who provides the exact offensive profile and defensive versatility Houston needs on its bench.<\/p>\n
Loperfido is a left-handed hitter who plays all three outfield positions and — if needed — can make a cameo at first or second base. He boasts above-average speed and stole 27 bases in the minor leagues last season, providing far more versatility than Jon Singleton, the left-handed hitting slugger who is out of minor-league options and expected to snare a spot over Loperfido on Houston’s bench.<\/p>\n
Loperfido is slashing .423\/.483\/.692 in 26 Grapefruit League at-bats, but the small sample and fickle nature of spring training can diminish the statistics’ importance. How Loperfido prepares, his day-to-day processes and his ability to adjust are far more consequential.<\/p>\n
“He just seems advanced. He’s obviously talented, but he’s extremely professional, very smart,” Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker said. “It seems like he plays the game at a slow pace. The game never speeds up on him. He kind of dials in approach stuff in the game. It seems like he’s capable of doing the in-game adjustments, mindset, approach all that stuff really well.”<\/p>\n
Six of Loperfido’s 11 hits this spring have fallen for extra bases. Five of the 11 came against left-handed pitching, including two against Philadelphia Phillies fifth starter Cristopher S\u00e1nchez and another against veteran New York Mets reliever Jake Diekman. McCormick marveled at how short Loperfido is to the ball and how well he uses his legs. Jake Meyers called the swing “very repeatable.”<\/p>\n
“Kind of just wears out the gaps,” Snitker said. “Seems like he’s covered different pitch types. Hasn’t seemed overmatched by anybody — even good, tough arms. It just seems like he slows it down and it’s not too big for him.”<\/p>\n
Before spring training, The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Loperfido as Houston’s No. 6 prospect. Law wrote Loperfido is “pretty much ready for the majors and at the worst he should be on Houston’s bench by midyear” — a trajectory that feels more likely than Loperfido beginning the season with the major-league team.<\/p>\n
Loperfido finished last season with a 32-game cameo at Triple-A Sugar Land. He slashed just .235\/.333\/.403 with 48 strikeouts in 132 at-bats, suggesting there’s at least some fine-tuning required.<\/p>\n
“To fully develop and get the reps he needs, the minor leagues is where you want to do that,” Espada said. “I’m not saying that’s what we’re going to do with Joey, but I’ve been in player development and been in the big leagues a long time, young players need reps to build their confidence to develop their skills.”<\/p>\n
There’s a prospect like Loperfido in almost every camp — a pleasant surprise who performs well enough to put himself in serious conversation for the final spot on an Opening Day roster. Last spring, for example, an undrafted outfielder named Justin Dirden dominated during Grapefruit League play and stayed in Houston’s major-league camp until the final day.<\/p>\n
On Opening Day, the club carried another non-roster invitee, Corey Julks, over Dirden, who responded with a .710 OPS during an injury-filled season at Triple-A Sugar Land. The club didn’t even invite him to major-league spring training this year.<\/p>\n
“For me to leave this camp after playing well and handling myself well, any sense of disappointment that could impact my season would be a disservice to myself and how much work I’ve put in (and) how much support I’ve gotten throughout my career,” Loperfido said. “I think regardless of what happens, I feel like I’m going to impact this club this year and I feel like I’ll have an opportunity to do that whether it’s from the start of (the season) or sometime during.”<\/p>\n
Loperfido said he’s already spoken with Triple-A manager Mickey Storey to inform him “it will be all business” if he does start the season in Sugar Land, the sort of maturity that’s drawn rave reviews throughout his professional career.<\/p>\n
“He doesn’t suck any energy out — he’s putting energy out to people. It’s someone you want to be around,” Double-A pitcher Rhett Kouba said. “And when he cooks some food, it’s never a bad idea to be around him.”<\/p>\n
Loperfido isn’t looking for a new culinary career. He “felt like I should develop some kind of skill other than baseball,” so he started experimenting in the kitchen. Loperfido’s whole family can cook, making holiday meals a must. Christmas Eve isn’t complete without a Feast of Seven Fishes.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know if we get all the way to seven,” Loperfido confessed. “We count crab cakes as one.”<\/p>\n
Loperfido wings it. He doesn’t measure ingredients and relies just on what he thinks will taste good. His paella passed that test. Espada enjoyed it and Jose Altuve gave it “10\/10” on Loperfido’s cooking Instagram story. Some teammates asked for seconds.<\/p>\n
“It’s easy as a young guy to put a lot of pressure on yourself and maybe come into camp with an idea of what you have to do to make the team,” Loperfido said. “For me, I knew what I could control off the field. I wanted to show that mentally and maturity-wise, I’m ready for the big leagues — which I feel like I am.”<\/p>\n
“The one thing you can control is how you handle yourself and how you carry yourself. Coming into camp, that was one of my goals — just to be yourself and I think I’ve stayed true to that.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — His last name is Loperfido and he lives in Philadelphia, but paella is somehow his pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance. The recipe is handed down from his father and helped Joey Loperfido impress his girlfriend, Faith, during one of the couple’s first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":35400,"menu_order":0,"template":"","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n