Having his family around has helped the 23-year-old Matos stay settled at the plate, as he entered Wednesday tied for the MLB lead with 19 hits and ranks fourth with a .358 batting average through 20 Cactus League games this spring. Those numbers should put him in prime position to make his first Opening Day roster and serve as Mike Yastrzemski’s platoon partner in right field during the regular season.
“The talent he’s got is unbelievable,” said fellow Venezuelan Pablo Sandoval, who’s currently in camp as a guest instructor for the Giants. “To get the Rookie of the Year [in winter ball] is a beautiful thing for him. He’s got a bright career. I hope he can continue shining and do the best thing.”
Matos flashed his offensive potential by winning National League Player of the Week honors last May, when he batted .385 (10-for-26) with two homers, 16 RBIs, three doubles and three runs scored over a torrid six-game span with the Giants, but he spent the rest of the year bouncing between Triple-A Sacramento and the Majors. He finished the 2024 campaign hitting .213/.237/.347 over 45 games and looked overly aggressive at times, posting a 3.2% walk rate that would have ranked second to last in the Majors if he’d had enough plate appearances to qualify.
Still, Matos believes his time in winter ball ultimately helped him mature as a hitter and develop a slightly more patient approach, especially since he was able to learn from Tiburones manager Ozzie Guillén and former big leaguers like Yangervis Solarte and Alcides Escobar.
“It’s something I’ve been working on since I played over there in Venezuela,” Matos said. “Improve my approach. Go in with a plan and not just swing like crazy. Have a plan and make the pitcher work.”
Matos has drawn only two walks over 55 plate appearances this spring, though both of those free passes have come in two of his past four games, an encouraging sign for him moving forward.
“He is getting better pitches to hit, and that’s always going to be, for him, the most important thing,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Not chasing too much. Last year, when he was getting good pitches to hit, he went crazy, and then all of a sudden he was a little bit too aggressive. Even though he hasn’t walked [a lot], we’ve seen him take some first pitches. We’ve seen him get a little bit deeper in counts. I think that is a progression for him.”
