HOUSTON -- At last year's Winter Meetings, general manager Dana Brown proclaimed that Jake Meyers would be the team's starting center fielder, a somewhat surprising declaration considering Meyers posted a .678 OPS last year in 341 plate appearances. The club was banking on Meyers recapturing the form showed when he broke into the big leagues in the 2021 season. Meyers seriously injured his shoulder in the 2021 American League Division Series against the White Sox, which led to surgery and cost him most of the 2022 season. Last year, he slashed .227/.296/.382 with 10 homers in 112 games, including a career-low 27.9 percent hard-hit rate (and ranking in the 86th percentile in average exit velocity). Through the Astros' first 51 games of this season, Meyers was second on the team behind Kyle Tucker with a .914 OPS, slashing .300/.369/.545 with six homers and 21 RBIs in 123 plate appearances. A closer look at the numbers reveal that Meyers is doing almost everything better at the plate this year than last year. "For me, that's how I feel I can play the game at any time," Meyers said. "To say I'm back or whatnot, yeah, sure, but I felt like I could play that way the entire time. Maybe it didn't look that way on the outside, but that's how I feel about it and I'm just in a good spot. I want to keep playing this way." |
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Meyers' average exit velocity is 92.2 mph this year, compared to 86 mph last year. His strikeout rate has plummeted from 25.8 percent last year to 17.9 percent this year. Meyers is hitting .354 with a .646 slugging percentage against fastballs. "I really like when he just swings at what he knows he can handle," manager Joe Espada said. "When he gets away from that approach, now he chases and tries to do too much. Now he's not the hitter we know he's capable of [being]. When I see signs like that, you've got to pull back a little bit and regroup and [say], 'Let's get you back on what we know you do best,' and that's what we did here. Now he's rolling." Meyers said his success at the plate reinforces the work he's been putting in before games and reminds him that he's focusing on the right things. "I would say trusting in my process, trusting my work in the cage and separating that from in the game, and just kind of going out there and competing in the game," he said. "In past years, I was trying to be a little bit too perfect, or trying to hunt for the perfect pitch or whatnot. Now, just let the game come to me and play the game like I know how and try to keep getting better in the cage and before the game." |
Being able to hit the ball harder this year was a product of trying to get the barrel on it more consistently, and proper timing and pitch recognition had a lot to do with that. Perhaps more than ever, he knows his strengths and weaknesses. "It's really all about focusing on the day-to-day stuff, the process vs. the results, and the results will come and go," Meyers said. "There's ups and downs, but if you have a solid process you're going through every day and you can focus on getting better and playing the game like you know how, that stuff will take care of itself." |
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Colleague David Adler broke down the impressive swing decisions this year by Tucker in this must read piece. Simply put, Tucker is walking more than he strikes out for the first time in his career and has refined his approach. Adler points out that Tucker is chasing bad pitches at the lowest rate of his career. Tucker's 16 percent chase rate in 2024 ranks in the 98th percentile of MLB hitters. It's over five percentage points lower than it was last year (21.6 percent), and more than 10 points lower than it was two years ago (26.1 percent). But that discipline is also part of a larger shift by Tucker toward selectivity. |
In case you missed it, Minute Maid Park will play host to the 2026 World Baseball Classic, marking the first time the tournament will be held in Houston. The Tokyo Dome in Japan and loanDepot park in Miami will return from the 2023 tournament as host sites, with Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, returning for the first time since 2013. "We are excited and honored to be hosting World Baseball Classic matchups for the first time," Astros owner and chairman Jim Crane said. "Houston is a global city with the best baseball fans, and we are proud to welcome fans from across the globe to watch international competition at Minute Maid Park." The first-round pools will be split across the four locations, while the semifinals will be split between Houston and Miami, with the final once again taking place at loanDepot park. Sixteen teams have qualified for the tournament -- the top four teams from each of the pools from the 2023 tournament -- while the final four teams will be determined at the 2025 Qualifiers. More information on the Qualifiers will be coming soon. Though Minute Maid Park will be making its World Baseball Classic debut, the stadium is certainly no stranger to hosting major baseball events: The 24-year-old ballpark hosted World Series games in 2017, '19, '21 and '22 and ALCS games each year since '17 (with the exception of the pandemic-shortened '20 season). The city of Houston is in for plenty of international competition in 2026, too: After the World Baseball Classic is over, nearby NRG Stadium will be a host site for that summer's FIFA World Cup. |
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