If fans were looking for a possible surprise pick as the Houston Astros' MVP for the month of April, they probably took a long, hard look at Jake Meyers. He had some struggles at the plate last season, but he changed the tune on that story during the first few weeks of the 2025 season.
But after a hot-start, Meyers entered Tuesday night's home game at Daikin Park against the Detroit Tigers with no home runs and just five RBI. He's been stuck on those numbers since April 18. The problem is, Meyers was hitting .308 at that time, but his bat has since cooled and he's hitting just .247 on the year. Meyers hit just .219 last season, so anything better than that was going to be an improvement.
It initially looked as though Meyers had put his spring training time at West Palm Beach to good use. Getting out of the gate quickly added an extra spark to the Astros' offense. Sure, he was no Yordan Alvarez, but a little extra effort from Meyers played a role in keeping the Astros hovering around the .500 mark at the outset of the 2025 season.
Astros outfielder Jake Meyers is suddenly his old self again
But Meyers has slowed down over the Astros' last seven games. He's gone hitless, and didn't have any plate appearances against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday and Detroit on Monday. There's a possibility that, moving forward, Meyers will split time in center field with Cam Smith. It's been bandied about that Astros manager Joe Espada might give his rookie outfielder more time out there.
Meyers has been making better contact, and his defense has been pretty good so far. Perhaps knowing that Espada is thinking about tinkering with center field might light a fire under Meyers' butt to pick up the pace. To Meyers credit, he's made his share of sterling catches in center field and hasn't let his recent dip at the plate take away from making solid plays out there.
While Meyers started out as a quiet candidate for the Astros MVP in April, he's since turned back into a pumpkin. Keep your eyes on what Espada might do with his center field situation. Meyers needs to show up consistently in all facets of his game. Should his recent hitting slide keep on going, don't be surprised if he's back in a platoon situation.