Jake Meyers opens up about his expectations at Astros: "I expect to be the best I can this year"

In a recent interview, Houston Astros outfielder Jake Meyers talked about his return to a full fledged MLB campaign and the expectations on him to make it big. Meyers, who had an injury-plagued 2022 season, will look to cement his place in the starting lineup at the center field position.

Jake Meyers was drafted by the Astros in 2017. After impressive showings in the minor leagues, Meyers was promoted to the MLB by Houston in 2021. He had a brilliant rookie season, batting .260/.323/.438 with six home runs and 28 RBI, 10 bases on balls (BB) and 50 strikeouts in just 49 games. However an injury in Game 4 of the ALDS ruled him out for months.

Meyers was in the injury list for the Astros at the start of the 2022 season. He spent the first three months rehabilitating from injury before returning to the roster in June. However, on his return, he couldn't match his performances from his rookie season, striking out 54 times in 150 major league at-bats — including once against a position player — and had a .582 OPS.

Even then, expectations are quite high from Jake Meyers as he has been touted to be in tough competition with Chas McCormick as the fourth outfielder for the Stros. Speaking about these expectations, Meyers said:

“I expect to be the best I can this year, better than past years. Really my goal is to get better every day and this offseason I did that. Each day I feel like I got better, and I feel like I’m in a really good spot right now.”

A healthy winter offseason and good performances in spring training can help elevate Meyers up the ladder in the Astros hierarchy. Manager Dusty Baker is not much of a fan of Chas McCromick, and he was only a regular for the team in the postseason.

---

Jake Meyers feels confident after perfect offseason, welcoming baby with his wife

Jake Meyers also talked about his personal well-being that's surely likely to affect his game. He looks to translate all the positive energy to good input on the field. He talked about his family welcoming a newborn, as his daughter was born in December.

"I am very excited for this year. I had a great offseason. Had a daughter this offseason, so just really excited to be coming up. (Having a baby) really puts things into perspective. I miss her and will be seeing her next week. Feeling great and ready to go."

Even though Meyers was declared fully fit last season, he was not up to the level. Baker had suggested that he should head back to the minor leagues. That was, however, overruled by the front office, as they wanted to review their "return-to-play procedure" for injury-prone Major League players.