HOUSTON — In another attempt to awaken their lifeless outfield, the Houston Astros optioned their Opening Day center fielder, Jake Meyers, to Triple-A Sugar Land as part of a roster shakeup on Saturday afternoon.Both Meyers and Joey Loperfido were demoted to Sugar Land in favor of LaMonte Wade Jr. and Zach Dezenzo. The Astros activated Wade from the injured list after a 22-game absence due to a right hamstring strain.Dezenzo sported an .822 OPS across his past 93 plate appearances at Triple-A Sugar Land, production his major-league counterparts have failed to replicate during a frustrating first half.The Astros entered Saturday extracting a .673 OPS from their outfield. Only three teams had a lower mark: the Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres and Cleveland Guardians. No outfield in the sport has a lower on-base percentage than Houston’s .294 mark.Following up on three bold MLB predictionsAndy McCullough“We’re just trying to improve our club, get some production from the outfield. … Just to change things up,” manager Joe Espada said. “Get some quality at-bats, also trying to give those guys some at-bats in Triple-A. There’s still a lot of season left, so hopefully these moves make us better and get some more offensive production.”Doing so remains general manager Dana Brown’s primary goal at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Brown’s failure to do so this winter is reflected in Saturday’s moves.After Brown acquired Loperfido from the Toronto Blue Jays in March, he declared he was “not done yet” in his efforts to augment his outfield. Brown did not make another move — and has now optioned Loperfido twice during the season’s first 90 games.Houston spent some of this offseason — and much of the two that preceded it — trying to trade Meyers, a homegrown outfielder who blossomed into an elite defensive center fielder with constant struggles to harness any offensive consistency. Houston selected Meyers in the 13th round of the 2017 draft.Meyers has a career .669 OPS and .303 on-base percentage. Though he finished last season hitting .292 with a 104 OPS+, Meyers’ .353 batting average on balls in play suggested some fortune favored him. He slashed .206/.264/.316 in 148 plate appearances before his demotion on Saturday.“He’s helped us win a lot of games, a lot of postseason games,” said Espada, who described his conversation with Meyers as “not easy.”“He’s part of this organization’s success, but he understood. We’re going to help him. We’re going to pinpoint some things that he’s going to be working on in Triple-A.”Both Meyers and Loperfido missed time this season with injuries — Meyers strained his oblique, while Loperfido injured his quad — but neither returned with any continuity.“They couldn’t get going again,” Espada said. “We’re trying to help those guys out. See if having Wade and Dezenzo can spark something up and see if we can get something going.”Wade started Saturday’s game in left field, where he should see the majority of his playing time. Dezenzo can contribute in either corner-outfield spot, too, but it’s difficult to envision him taking playing time from right fielder Cam Smith, who has a .728 OPS in his past 106 plate appearances.More intrigue may come in center field, where Meyers had made a team-high 36 starts. Espada played Taylor Trammell there on Saturday against Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, but will continue to change the configuration based on opponent and production.“I’m not going to do anything different than what I’ve done the last month,” said Espada, who has started nine different left fielders and six center fielders this season.Trammell, a left-handed hitter, could form a natural platoon with right-handed hitting Brice Matthews in center field. Ditto for Dezenzo and Wade in left field.That Matthews survived Saturday’s overhaul is somewhat surprising. He sports a .564 OPS and 32.2 percent strikeout rate after 211 plate appearances, but has impressed team officials with his ability to play six different defensive positions.That versatility — and the freedom it gives Espada to use his bench late in games — kept Matthews in the major leagues. Bear in mind, too, that Matthews is Brown’s first-ever draft pick as Houston’s general manager, perhaps offering him a longer runway in a make-or-break season for Brown.Jul 4, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms