How Giants provided Luis Matos a necessary ‘reality check,’ per Mike Krukow
Sometimes all a young professional athlete needs is a wake-up call.
And that’s what the Giants might have provided outfielder Luis Matos, who caught fire over the weekend in San Francisco’s series win over the MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers.
Matos, who once was a top prospect in the Giants’ farm system and believed to be a potential cornerstone player, has had a roller coaster of an MLB career thus far, from earning National League Player of the Week honors in May 2024, to yo-yoing back and forth between Triple-A Sacramento and the major-league level this season.
SIGN UP HERE However, the 23-year-old outfielder has caught fire in recent weeks, batting .293/.341/.634 with three home runs, six RBI, three walks and two stolen bases in 41 at-bats. Matos came through big in San Francisco’s series win over Milwaukee, blasting two home runs, including a two-run homer on Sunday, before scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning.
Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow liked what he saw from the young slugger over the weekend.
“I’ve always liked the guy,” Krukow told KNBR 680’s “Murph & Markus.” “I’ve always felt he was a player that could develop into an everyday player and put up big numbers with power and he’s got speed to steal. He’s the whole package. We’re just waiting for him to sort of mature into the game.”
Despite his recent success, Matos still is batting just .209 on the season, but Krukow believes some of San Francisco’s roster decisions earlier this season might have lit a fire under Matos, fueling his current hot stretch, which, Krukow hopes, continues through the end of the season and into the future.
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“For him to get that confidence [playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic], I expected more,” Krukow added. “I expected once he got hot earlier and started to put things together, I thought, ‘OK, here he goes.’ And then all of a sudden, the same old thing that’s plagued him, his inability to stay in the strike zone, his lack of discipline identifying strikes and good pitches to hit, sent him back down.
“But I think what they did, about a month ago, think back, when Drew Gilbert came up and they brought Tyler Fitzgerald back [in right field] … That was a massive head-slap to Luis Matos. That’s how you motivate from the front office to a player in the minor leagues. You move somebody right past him. And you talk about a reality check, it absolutely happened to Matos.”
While a Giants postseason run seems unlikely at this point in the season, the team’s remaining 31 games can provide Matos, and other young players, an opportunity to compete for roster spots and everyday roles next season.
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