May 25, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros center fielder Jake Meyers (6) celebrates with teammates after scoring a run during the sixth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Daikin Park / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The Houston Astros seemed to know what they had in Jake Meyers.
The former 13th-round pick always showed himself to be a good defender but had issues with the bat in his hand, posting three straights seasons with an OPS+ figure well under the league average of 100 while also having defensive bWAR numbers above zero.
Everything was more pronounced last year.
Meyers had the worst slash line of his career since becoming a full-time big league player with a mark of .219/.286/.360, but his career-high bWAR of 1.7 was largely due to his defensive bWAR being 1.0.
While those types of players are valuable for teams around the league that need reliable defensive substitutes who can play multiple positions across the outfield, Meyers' lack of impact on offense for the Astros made him a real non-tender candidate this past winter.
Houston decided to give him another chance to prove himself, and that has paid off in spades.
Meyers looks like a completely different player with the bat in his hand, slashing .300/.358/.413 entering Monday with three homers, 16 RBI and an OPS+ of 119.
What has caused the turnaround?
Understanding that something needed to change when it came to the offensive side of his game, he went to work and altered his swing.
According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Meyers added a leg kick and tweaked his mechanics, hoping it would become a bit more natural feeling.
It seems like that has worked.
Meyers made club history at the beginning of the month with his two-homer game against the Chicago White Sox where he also hit a triple and a double, the first Astros player to ever have that stat line in a singular contest while also becoming the first to record 13 total bases from the ninth spot in the lineup.
"That's kind of how I hit growing up. And I think it's more comfortable for me, and it's one less thing to think about and try to analyze, and just let me go out there and compete," he said, per MLB.com.
The next step for Meyers is keeping up this level of production throughout the year.
If he can become at least a league average hitter, that will be a gamechanger for Houston when it comes to the offensive production they will get from their outfield unit.