Joey Loperfido

Mario Joseph Loperfido (born May 11, 1999) is an American professional baseball outfielder and infielder for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.

Career
Loperfido attended Haddonfield Memorial High School in Haddonfield, New Jersey, and played college baseball at Duke University. In 2019, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

The Houston Astros selected Loperfido in the seventh round of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft. He made his professional debut in 2021 with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers and spent 2022 with Fayetteville and Asheville Tourists. He started 2023 with Asheville, and was promoted to the Corpus Christi Hooks after eight games.

Loperfido began the 2024 season with the Triple–A Sugar Land Space Cowboys. In 25 games, he hit .287/.393/.713 with 13 home runs, 27 RBI, and 5 stolen bases.

On April 30, 2024, Loperfido was selected promoted to the major leagues for the first time. On his debut, he hit a 2 RBI single against Cleveland Guardians pitcher Carlos Carrasco. He hit his first career home run on May 16, 2024, against the Oakland Athletics.

On May 27, 2024, Loperfido was demoted to Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys to make room on the roster for former MVP Winner José Abreu. On June 14, 2024, Jose Abreu was released from the team. As result, a week later, Loperfido returned to the Major League team.