Lucas Spence is a 23-year-old Houston Astros outfielder who went from an undrafted college player to the center of the American League West race with one of the most unusual three-home-run games in MLB history.
Spence hit the first three home runs of his major-league career in Houston’s 7-5 victory over the Athletics on September 24, 2026. He drove in five runs, including the go-ahead homer in the seventh inning, as the Astros remained tied with the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West with three games remaining. [MLB]
The performance was especially unexpected because power had never been considered Spence’s best tool. He entered the game with no home runs and only one extra-base hit in his first 15 MLB games. By the end of the night, he had become only the third player in MLB history to hit his first three career home runs in the same game. [Yahoo Sports]
Who Is Lucas Spence?
Lucas Edward Spence is a left-handed-hitting and left-handed-throwing outfielder from Illinois. He was born January 27, 2003, and is listed at 6 feet and 195 pounds. [MLB]
Spence took an unconventional route to the majors. He played his first two college seasons at Black Hawk College in Moline, Illinois, before transferring to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He was a two-way player in college, appearing as both a hitter and pitcher. [MLB]
His hitting ultimately became his path to professional baseball. Spence won the Ohio Valley Conference batting title in 2024 after hitting .385 for SIUE. Despite that performance, he was not selected in the 2024 MLB Draft. [MLB Pipeline]
Houston signed him as an undrafted free agent for $150,000 on July 20, 2024. Less than two years later, he was playing in the majors. [MLB]
What Did Lucas Spence Do Against The Athletics?
Spence started in center field and batted eighth against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. He entered the game 6-for-40 in his MLB career without a home run.
Then he homered three times.
Second inning: Spence hit his first career home run, a three-run shot off Mason Barnett that traveled a Statcast-projected 429 feet and gave Houston a 3-0 lead.
Seventh inning: With the game tied 4-4, Spence homered off Scott Blewett to put Houston ahead 5-4.
Ninth inning: Spence led off the inning by hitting the first pitch he saw from Elvis Alvarado over the right-field wall, extending Houston’s lead to 7-5.
Houston held on for the 7-5 victory. Spence finished with three home runs and five RBIs. [MLB]
How Rare Was Lucas Spence’s Three-Home Run Game?
Spence became only the third player in MLB history to hit the first three home runs of his career in the same game. [MLB]
The other two players to accomplish it were:
Seby Zavala, Chicago White Sox: July 31, 2021
Joshua Báez, St. Louis Cardinals: August 15, 2026
Lucas Spence, Houston Astros: September 24, 2026
Báez’s performance was even more unusual because he hit all three during his major-league debut. Spence accomplished the feat in his 16th MLB game. [Yahoo Sports]
Spence also became the 14th player in Astros history to hit three home runs in one game. At 23 years and 240 days old, he was the second-youngest Astro to do it, behind Yordan Alvarez, who was 22 when he produced a three-homer game in 2019. [Houston Chronicle]
Why Was Spence’s Performance So Surprising?
Spence was not considered a major power prospect.
MLB Pipeline gave him a 40 grade for power on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale, making power his lowest-rated offensive tool. His speed received a 60 grade, while his arm also received a 60. [MLB Pipeline]
His minor-league numbers reflected that profile. Spence had a career .402 slugging percentage in the minors entering his MLB career and was viewed primarily as a player who could contribute through plate discipline, speed and center-field defense rather than home-run production.
MLB Pipeline’s scouting report projected that he could potentially reach roughly 10 to 12 home runs in a season. Instead, Spence hit three in a single night. [MLB Pipeline]
How Did Lucas Spence Reach The Astros?
Spence began his professional career after going undrafted in 2024 and moved quickly through Houston’s minor-league system.
In his first full professional season in 2025, he played at three levels and hit .244/.368/.403 with 10 home runs, 55 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. He finished the year at Double-A Corpus Christi. [MLB]
He continued climbing in 2026, playing for Corpus Christi and Triple-A Sugar Land. Across three minor-league stops during the season, Spence hit .238/.348/.426 with 13 home runs and 17 stolen bases in 99 games. [Baseball Savant]
Houston initially promoted Spence to the majors on July 17 after Brice Matthews went on the injured list. Spence made his MLB debut that night against the Seattle Mariners, starting in center field and collecting his first major-league hit. [MLB]
The Astros optioned him back to Triple-A in August, but his season was not over.
Why Did The Astros Call Lucas Spence Back Up?
Spence returned to the Astros late in September because of Daulton Varsho’s wrist injury.
Houston recalled him from its taxi squad on September 23. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts that night against Seattle. Spence later said he had been late against fastballs and worked with Houston’s coaches before the Athletics game to improve his timing. [MLB]
The adjustment produced an immediate result.
One night after going hitless, Spence hit three home runs and accumulated 12 total bases. Before the game, he had produced only seven total bases during his entire MLB career. [Yahoo Sports]
What Kind Of Prospect Is Lucas Spence?
Spence’s prospect profile has been built more around athleticism and on-base ability than power.
MLB Pipeline ranked him as Houston’s No. 12 prospect at the time of his three-homer game, while Baseball America ranked him No. 9 in the Astros organization. [MLB][Baseball America]
His strongest attributes include speed, strike-zone awareness and outfield defense. MLB Pipeline notes that Spence rarely chases pitches outside the strike zone and has enough speed to steal bases and cover significant ground in center field. [MLB Pipeline]
His background as a college pitcher also shows up in his arm strength. During 2026 spring training, Spence recorded a 100.8 mph throw from left field to home plate. [MLB]
Why Was Lucas Spence’s Game So Important For The Astros?
The timing made the performance much more significant than an unusual rookie milestone.
Houston entered the final days of the regular season fighting Texas for the AL West championship. The Astros’ victory moved them to 79-80 and kept them tied with the Rangers for first place with three games remaining. Houston owned the head-to-head tiebreaker. [MLB]
Spence directly affected the outcome twice. His first homer produced three runs, while his second broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh. His third gave Houston an additional insurance run in the ninth.
Without the unexpected power from a rookie who had never previously homered in the majors, Houston’s position in the division race could have looked very different entering the final weekend.
Did The Astros Get Lucas Spence’s Home Run Balls Back?
Yes. The Astros recovered all three baseballs from Spence’s historic night.
Houston bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte told MLB.com that the first ball was retrieved from a young fan in exchange for batting gloves and a baseball signed by the bullpen. Astros reliever Bryan Abreu retrieved the second, while Athletics right fielder Lawrence Butler threw the third ball back toward Houston’s bullpen. [MLB]
What Are Lucas Spence’s MLB Stats?
Spence’s three-homer explosion dramatically changed the numbers from his small major-league sample.
He entered September 24 with six hits in 40 at-bats, no home runs and a .419 OPS. After the three-homer game, Baseball America listed him at .205/.286/.432 through his first 16 major-league games. [Baseball America]
For a player whose professional career began as a $150,000 undrafted free-agent signing only two years earlier, the breakthrough was remarkable: Spence entered the night looking for his first major-league home run and left it as one of only three players in MLB history whose first, second and third career homers all came in the same game.
