Matos was promoted from Double-A Richmond to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday, Danny Emerman of KNBR 680 San Francisco reports.
Matos will likely make his Triple-A debut Wednesday. The outfield prospect showed a great eye at the plate in Double-A, posting a 12.8 percent walk rate and a 9.0 percent strikeout rate over 31 contests. He slashed .304/.398/.443 with three home runs, 16 RBI, 18 runs scored and nine stolen bases. He's enjoyed a fairly quick rise through the minors, and there's at least a slight chance he could be summoned for his major-league debut at some point this summer.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Optioned out of camp
Rotowire
The Giants optioned Matos to minor-league camp Wednesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The 21-year-old outfield prospect slashed .211/.275/.344 through 407 plate appearances with High-A Eugene last season and has already shown enough potential to warrant a spot on the Giants' 40-man roster. Matos went 6-for-24 at the plate this spring with a home run, and he will likely return to Eugene for the start of 2023 with a shot at reaching the Double-A level at some point.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Joining 40-man roster
Rotowire
Matos was added to the Giants' 40-man roster Tuesday.
The 20-year-old dealt with a quad injury and endured a rough season in 2022 with a .619 OPS, 11 home runs, 43 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 91 games with High-A Eugene. Matos is still one of San Francisco's better prospects, so the organization decided to protect him from being potentially selected during the upcoming Rule 5 draft.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Warms up late in season
Rotowire
Matos slashed just .211/.275/.344 with 11 homers, 11 steals and a 27:65 BB:K across 91 High-A games in 2022.
He did warm up late in the campaign, managing a .282/.309/.470 slash line with five homers and six steals across his final 27 games, but overall this was something of a lost season for Matos, who missed time with a quad injury and simply couldn't get his bat going until late. There are positive signs here, though. He put up a highly unlucky .226 BABIP while posting just a 16 percent strikeout rate, and you only have to look as far back as 2021 to see much better numbers from him. Still just 20 years old, Matos will have every opportunity to bounce back next season and cement his status as one of the Giants' top prospects.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Busts out with two doubles
Rotowire
Matos went 2-for-5 with two doubles, four RBI and a walk for High-A Eugene on Tuesday.
This was a much-needed bust-out game for the struggling outfield prospect, who's still hitting a meager .181/.263/.292 through 62 games on the season. The doubles were his first extra-base knocks since July 24. While Matos has sprinkled in a few big games over the last three weeks or so -- including a four-game stretch in which he hit three homers -- he hasn't been able to sustain any success at the plate for very long. It's not by any means time to give up on the 20-year-old, but it'd be nice to see him warm up down the stretch.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Back in action in Eugene
Rotowire
Matos (quadriceps) has gone 2-for-18 with a double, a run and an RBI in his four games since returning from High-A Eugene's 7-day injured list Thursday.
Matos was sidelined for about a month with a strained quad before he completed a two-game rehab assignment with the Giants' rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate last week. The 20-year-old outfielder has gotten off to a slow start at Eugene this season, slashing .141/.237/.153 with no home runs and two stolen bases across 97 plate appearances.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Rehabbing in Arizona
Rotowire
Matos (quadriceps) began a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League on Monday and has gone 3-for-7 with a home run, a double, a walk, four RBI and three runs in his first two games with the rookie-level affiliate.
Matos has played center field in both of his appearances in the ACL, so his strained left quad doesn't seem to be bothering him on defense or at the plate. He'll likely be reinstated from High-A Eugene's 7-day injured list within the next few days.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Battling quadriceps strain
Rotowire
Matos suffered a strained left quadriceps May 4 while playing for High-A Eugene but is scheduled to play in a rehab game in extended spring training Monday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
The injury explains why Matos has been on the 7-day injured list for nearly three weeks. He hit a poor .152/.253/.152 in 18 games for Eugene prior to being deactivated, but it's possible the injury was already bothering him during that stretch.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Benched in High-A
Rotowire
Matos, who's hitting .152/.253/.152 across 18 games this season for High-A Eugene, hasn't appeared in a game since May 4.
This is an odd situation, as the 20-year-old is a consensus top-100 prospect who raked in Low-A last season, but he seems to have simply been benched for underperformance -- a move that can't be good for his confidence. He still appears on Eugene's roster and has no reported injury, but it's bizarre to see a prospect of his caliber just get sat down for two weeks when fully healthy, particularly after a relatively small sample of games. For what it's worth, he has a pretty decent 8:13 BB:K, good for a 10.8 percent walk rate and 17.3 percent strikeout rate -- that's a notable increase in walks, which is usually a good thing. This situation will remain a bit of a mystery until he gets back on the field or the team releases some sort of update.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Starting season in High-A
Rotowire
Matos will open 2022 with High-A Eugene, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports reports.
After raking to the tune of a .313/.359/.495 batting line with 15 homers, 21 steals and just 61 strikeouts in 109 games at Low-A last year, Matos is more than ready for his next test. He's seen some action with the big-league club this spring, and that experience should serve him well as he continues his minor-league journey.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Prospect stock rising
Rotowire
Matos is hitting .315/.349/.488 with 12 homers, 19 steals, 73 RBI and 62 runs over 89 games for Low-A San Jose.
Even though he's cooled off a little over the last few games, Matos has still batted .354 across his last 26 contests. His power's been showing up more and more as the year's gone on, and he's done an incredible job keeping his strikeout rate in check. Matos has shown incredible maturity for a 19-year-old, and it'll be exciting to watch his progress as he continues climbing the organizational ladder next year.
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Giants' Luis Matos: Turning heads in Low-A
Rotowire
Matos is batting .304/.341/.470 with seven homers, 16 steals, 46 RBI and 40 runs across 60 games at Low-A San Jose.
After a stellar performance in rookie ball two years ago, Matos had a lost development year in 2020 as the minor-league season was canceled, but he doesn't look to have suffered for it. The Venezuelan outfielder is showing the kind of pop and speed that get dynasty league managers' blood pumping, and his trim strikeout rate (14.1 percent) offers optimism that he'll continue hitting for average at higher levels. He's still listed at a mere 160 pounds, suggesting that there's plenty of room for him to add strength as he grows into his body, too. Matos is still two or three years from the majors, but it's time to file the name away. In deeper dynasty formats, it may already be too late to snatch him up.
