That former Nebraska baseball star Jake Meyers is deep into his fifth season in the Major Leagues is notable enough. There are legions of ex-college and high school baseball players who dream of playing in the Bigs but never got to realize that dream.
What’s truly impressive about the way Meyers has broken out this year, is that he’s gone from a defense first center fielder, to someone who is quite deadly with the bat. That includes a Saturday afternoon for the Houston Astros where the former Husker did something no one else with the franchise has ever done.
Jake Meyers makes Astros history with massive performance at the plate
Meyers became the first 1st Houston Astros player to hit 2 home runs while also nabbing a triple and a double in a game. For those who haven’t caught on right away, the ex-Nebraska baseball star didn’t hit for the cycle, because he didn’t get the thing that was the easiest to get in that group. He never stopped at first base.
Meyers is also the first player in club history with 13 total bases while batting last in the order, and fell one shy of the 14 total bases Jackie Bradley Jr. collected on Aug. 15, 2015, the most in AL/NL history while batting ninth in at least the past 125 seasons.
He’s batting last in the order despite boasting a .303/.357/.449/.806 slashline. All of those are career highs so far this season after spending the first four years of his career with the Astros as somewho who hit below .230 for Houston.
Meyers has made himself someone the club has leaned on for his defense, finishing last year as a near Gold Glove winner. He’s got the kind of speed that can cause havoc on the base paths when he gets on.
But the former Nebraska star has been on an absolute tear of late. Over the last 7 games he’s hit a whopping .563 average.
Should the season continue the way it started, the former Nebraska baseball star might be a secret weapon for the Houston Astros as they look to get back into the fight for the AL West.