Jake Meyers’ 2026 season is over before it could really matter.
According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the Astros outfielder fouled a ball off the left side of his knee cap while in the minors and is now done for the year. McTaggart also noted that Meyers was placed on the minor league injured list on September 12, per the transactions tracker at MLB.com.
For Houston, the injury trims down the center field options for the stretch run and, if the club gets there, the postseason. Meyers had already slipped down the depth chart, which is why he was in the minors in the first place, but losing him still matters. Jorge Barrosa was claimed off waivers recently and is on the bench, though that move came after the postseason eligibility deadline.
If the Astros reach October, Taylor Trammell would likely be the main backup to Daulton Varsho. Meyers and Joey Loperfido would have been next in line, but Meyers is now out of the picture. Brice Matthews is on the 60-day injured list, though he is currently on a rehab assignment and should be back in the mix soon.
The injury also seems to push Meyers closer to a non-tender this offseason. He first became arbitration-eligible before the 2025 season, made $2.3MM last year, and was bumped to $3.5MM this year. Houston could still keep him, but his bat has faded enough that he has been optioned to the minors multiple times this season.
Meyers has spent the last few years as the Astros’ main center fielder, giving them strong defense and limited offense. He has nearly 4,000 career innings in the outfield, mostly in center, and has been credited with 23 Defensive Runs Saved and 43 Outs Above Average.
At the plate, the results have been uneven. Across 2023 and 2024, Meyers logged 840 plate appearances, hit 23 home runs and posted a 7.1% walk rate. That produced a .222/.290/.371 line and an 87 wRC+, which marked him as 13% below league average.
He was better in some respects last year, with his walk rate and batting average both climbing, but he only managed three home runs and got a lot of help from a .353 batting average on balls in play. His .292/.354/.373 line translated to a 108 wRC+, though that was boosted by some good fortune on balls in play.
This season, the production has fallen back again. His walk rate dropped, the luck disappeared and the power never really showed up. Meyers has hit .213/.268/.326 with a 67 wRC+, and his Triple-A line of .231/.301/.338 has not offered much of a rebound.
With numbers like that, Houston moving on would not be a surprise. Meyers would then likely be searching for a bounceback opportunity elsewhere, probably on a minor league deal.
He still has one option left, though, so another club could decide to carry him on the big league roster as optionable depth. And with the center field market looking especially thin, that may help him.
In Other News...
Daulton Varshos Post-Blue Jays Drop Could Cost Him Big
Daulton Varshos move on from Toronto was supposed to give him a fresh runway, but the early returns since landing with Houston have not matched the payoff the Astros hoped for. Varsho has struggled on both sides of the ball, and the drop-off has been broad enough to show up in his offensive production as well as his defensive metrics, a troubling combination for a player whose value has long rested on doing damage in multiple ways.
With free agency looming after the season, the timing could hardly be worse. Instead of positioning himself for a major payday, Varsho appears headed toward a winter in which the market may treat him as more of a rebound bet than a premium target, with a lower-value contract now looking like the most realistic outcome. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Espada Is Keeping The Astros Afloat Through A Bigger Problem
Joe Espada has spent much of this season doing the kind of managerial work that rarely shows up cleanly in the standings but matters plenty inside a clubhouse. With the Astros dealing with injuries and the aftershocks of roster construction issues, the manager has been tasked with keeping the group competitive while the front office sorts through a bigger organizational reset after parting ways with Dana Brown.
Jim Cranes comments underscored how much the Astros are leaning on Espada to hold things together for now, even as the roster clearly needs a retool. That leaves Houston in an awkward spot: still capable of hanging around, but also staring at a larger problem that goes beyond one manager or one rough stretch and asks what the next version of this team is supposed to look like. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Left Field Problem Just Put Joey Loperfido Back In Focus
The Astros have spent much of the season trying to find steadier production in left field, mixing and matching options while also bringing in Jorge Barrosa off waivers. Taylor Trammell had been the most consistent name in that spot, which only made the latest shuffle more noticeable when Houston needed another body and turned to Triple-A Sugar Land for Joey Loperfido.
Loperfidos return gives the Astros another look at a player who has been trending in the right direction in the minors, and the timing matters with an offense still searching for help in the corner outfield. For now, the opening is there, and Houston can see whether the improved version of Loperfido can translate into a useful stretch at the big-league level. [Read more 🡒]