LOOK OF A NATURAL
Rookie center fielder Meyers joins Alvarez, Bregman to drive in run in first playoff at-bat
Experience and heady baserunning helped the Astros put runners on the corners against the White Sox with two outs in the second inning. Jake Meyers approached for his first career postseason at-bat, representing a rare spot of inexperience in Houston’s deep lineup.
White Sox starter Lance Lynn delivered a 1-1 fastball up and in. Meyers ripped it to right field. Yordan Alvarez didn’t have to break a sweat jogging home from third base.
Meyers entered Thursday’s game with a .676 OPS in 105 major-league plate appearances against righthanded pitching. He was responsible for two of Houston’s first four hits (and six total) against Lynn, and his second-inning RBI single sparked an avalanche of runs in the Astros’ 6-1 victory over the White Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS.
“That first one is always the toughest one,” manager Dusty Baker said. “You get that first one, and then it sort of cuts the ice and gives you confidence for the second and hopefully down the line in the series.”
Meyers went 2 for 4 and became the first Astros player to drive in a run in his postseason debut since Alvarez did so in Game 1 of the 2019 ALDS. The last Astro to drive in a run in his first postseason at-bat was Alex Bregman in Game 1 of the 2017 ALDS. The Astros will count themselves fortunate if Meyers’ value can match that of those two players.
Meyers is no stranger to producing. He dropped jaws shortly after his MLB debut in August by hitting a grand slam and racking up five RBIs in his seventh career game.
He had a down month in September, batting 9 for 58 (.155) with 23 strikeouts. October dawned, and he appeared to reclaim some momentum in the three-game series against the A’s to close the regular season. He went 5 for 12 with one double, one home run and three RBIs against Oakland, starting every game.
Meyers and Chas McCormick were so evenly matched in most metrics that neither emerged as the obvious choice for Houston’s starting center fielder by the end of the regular season. Both made the Astros playoff roster, but it was slightly surprising to see Meyers get the start Thursday given his poor track record against righthanded hitters. Baker said he will continue to let pitching matchups help dictate whether Meyers or McCormick start in the division series.
At batting practice Thursday morning, Meyers beamed in front of an MLB postseason-branded dugout backing. Asked whether this start felt different to him than a regular-season one, however, he shrugged.
“Not really,” he said. “I’m just ready to go out there and play.”
Meyers wears a near-constant smile that fades only in moments of great concentration in the batters’ box or on the field. He plays with an understated confidence and an eagerness that rarely borders on exuberance.
“He has a great work ethic,” veteran left fielder Michael Brantley said. “You guys don’t get to see it, but behind closed doors, he’s always working hard. He’s a great kid that asks a lot of great questions. He is always willing to learn. I’m really excited for him. It was some big swings for us today, obviously for us to get the first run on the board as well.”
Meyers, along with McCormick and Jose Siri, is among the trio of rookie outfielders under the tutelage of Astros third base coach Gary Pettis, a former major-league center fielder and fivetime Gold Glover. Pettis said he doesn’t worry about the greenness of the Astros’ outfielders partly because it is offset by the team’s vast playoff experience elsewhere on the roster, and partly because he trusts Meyers and company have the necessary foundation.
“Anything that happens in a game is something we’ve practiced and gone over,” Pettis said, “so hopefully they’re ready.”
Baker often preaches to his young players that they cannot worry about making mistakes. The same logic applies in a playoff game.
“Like Hank Aaron told me, and I’ll probably tell him the same thing he told me, it’s OK to be nervous,” he said. “It’s natural. Just don’t be scared.”
Thursday, Meyers looked more like a man who inspires fear than one who succumbs to it.