Luis Matos is crushing Triple-A pitching, but the Giants don't have a spot on the roster for him just quite yet, which is a good problem to have.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi joined KNBR 680's "Tolbert & Copes" on Thursday, where he was asked about reinforcements the team might add after he told the "Front Office Show" with MLB Network Radio's Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette on Sunday that the Giants will be "aggressive" before the August 1 trade deadline. Zaidi believes a prospect like Matos eventually could provide that boost if the Giants were to need it.
"We're at a point now where we sort of want the engine of this team to come from what we have in-house right now," Zaidi told Tom Tolbert and Adam Copeland. "When you look at guys like Luis Matos, who's playing really well in Triple-A, we don't really have a spot for him right now. And I think if he continues to produce we may try to create one. But we have a pretty deep team and deep roster."
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
After hitting .304/.399/.444 with three home runs and 16 RBI and a .842 OPS in 31 games with Double-A Richmond earlier this season, Matos was promoted to Triple-A Sacramento, where he has posted an eye-popping line of .375/.409/.546 with two homers and 12 RBI and a .954 OPS.
Since his promotion to Triple-A on May 17, Matos has 11 multi-hit games, including six in his last eight games.
San Francisco's No. 7 prospect not only is knocking on the door of a major-league promotion but is putting the Giants in a very tricky position. With a crowded outfield consisting of Michael Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Slater and even Joc Pederson, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Blake Sabol when needed, Matos' path to the big leagues isn't clear at the moment and likely would take an injury to one of the primary outfielders for the 21-year-old to get the call.
"No matter what people say, it winds up being kind of circumstance-related, injury-related as much as anything else," Zaidi explains. "I look at what Luis is doing in Sacramento right now and you can't help but be really excited. Some of the guys we've had on the team, Bryce Johnson and David Villar and Brett Wisely, those three guys all have higher OPS numbers than Luis does in Sacramento. That's not to say he couldn't come up and make a big impact, but we've got a pretty crowded outfield... we have a group that mixes and matches pretty well.
San Francisco Giants
"I think it would probably take losing somebody for some period of time. But again, you never know. Different things can happen, some of those guys can move around to different spots on the roster. It's really exciting to see what he's doing."
It's worth mentioning that Matos, as this article was being written, blasted another home run for the River Cats, his second in as many games.
RELATED: Crawford takes advantage of rare pinch-hit opportunity in win
While rookies Patrick Bailey and Casey Schmitt seemingly have made a season-altering impact since their promotions, the Giants will continue to lean on their young talent as they look to push for a playoff spot.
In addition to his red-hot bat and his ability to play all three outfield positions, Matos has a lot going for him right now and could force the Giants' hand sooner rather than later.
"His performance, his potential and being on the 40-man roster are all things in his favor," Zaidi adds.
Matos, along with top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison, soon will join an exciting, young core that the Giants hope to keep together for a long, long time.