SF Giants still lack clarity on young outfielder's long-term fit with club

The SF Giants demoted Luis Matos back to Triple-A earlier this week. The young outfielder may be at the crossroads with the Giants, as he may burn his final option year. It also highlights that he has not carved out a long-term fit with the club.

SF Giants still lack clarity on young outfielder's long-term fit with club

Matos struggled to a .572 OPS with four home runs and seven RBI in 76 plate appearances this season. The Giants did him no favors by keeping him on the major league roster, and going back to Triple-A is not a bad outcome. That is probably where he should have begun the season.

Baseball is a performance-driven business, and Matos' production just does not lend itself to an everyday role. He debuted with the Giants on June 14, 2023. Less than two years later, he is back in the minors.

During that time, the right-handed bat has slashed .224/.275/.347 (73 wRC+) with a 6.0 percent walk rate, 13.8 percent strikeout rate, and .122 ISO across 485 plate appearances. That is a pretty healthy sample at this point.

The Giants are set in the outfield with Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee in left field and center field, respectively. Mike Yastrzemski's long-term fit with the club is much less certain, as he is in the final year of his rookie deal.

On paper, it would be easy to slot Matos in the lineup instead of Yastrzemski. However, Bob Melvin is trying to win games and still views the veteran outfielder as the better option to achieve that. Playing time is earned, and Matos has just not done that yet. Admittedly, he has seen sporadic playing time since the start of 2024, but he still has tallied 232 plate appearances during that time. He needed to show more than he did.

So, the right-handed bat returns to Triple-A, where he will get consistent at-bats. He did well with the Sacramento River Cats in 2024, posting a .779 OPS in 375 plate appearances. However, that was a sharp drop from the 1.030 OPS he recorded with them in 2023.

Matos is just in his age-23 season, so it is fair to say that he still has development left to realize. That will need to take place in the minors for now, and that development will need to happen quickly if it is to occur with the Giants. That option clock is ticking, and they need to see that he can offer more than what he has to be a long-term solution for the club.