Less than a week ago, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi implied a big league roster spot could be created for outfielder Luis Matos if the prospect keeps producing in Triple-A.
"Luis Matos is playing really well," Zaidi told KNBR's "Tolbert & Copes" on Thursday. "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've got a pretty deep team and a deep roster."
Well, Matos must have heard him.
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The 21-year-old is 9-for-18 in four games with the Sacramento River Cats since Zaidi's comments, with four home runs and seven RBI. In the month of June so far, Matos is slashing .438/.469/.875 with six homers in 10 games, and his line is .396/.434/.660 in Triple-A since his promotion to Sacramento last month.
Matos' dominance is a welcome sign for the Giants after a quad injury held him back in 2022. It's encouraging for San Francisco fans, too, who flood the replies to each Matos highlight tweet pleading for his call-up.
San Francisco Giants
The hype is understandable, especially given this incredible comparison:
But it's not that simple despite the team's recent influx of youth at other positions. Before the Giants' blowout win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Oracle Park, manager Gabe Kapler addressed the concept of promoting prospects while they're hot -- and why a roster crunch would be necessary for Matos to get the call.
"... Philosophically, when a guy's going really well, you want to give him that opportunity because he's feeling a lot of confidence," Kapler said (h/t KNBR's Danny Emerman). "... And I think when the roster needs a boost of any kind, Luis would be a really good option -- if our group feels like he's ready and that's the right time.
"As you know, he's an outfielder. We've got a lot of good, capable outfielders right now."
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While Bryce Johnson and Brett Wisely were optioned to Triple-A last week to make room for Joc Pederson and Thairo Estrada post-injured list, the Giants still have Michael Conforto, Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Slater, Mitch Haniger and Blake Sabol to patrol the outfield.
Even so, Matos might simply be too hot to keep down in Sacramento. His glove and bat certainly are good enough to land an everyday role with San Francisco -- one just isn't quite available, yet.
But rookies Patrick Bailey and Casey Schmitt have shown how great of an impact the Giants' youth can make in the majors, and it seems like only a matter of time before Matos gets his opportunity.