SAN FRANCISCO — Less than three weeks after being named National League Player of the Week, Luis Matos returns to Triple-A.
The Giants optioned Matos on Wednesday morning, clearing a roster spot for Austin Slater, who returned from the concussion disabled list and returned to the lineup as a center fielder against left-hander Jordan Montgomery and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Slater hasn’t played since May 10, when he crashed into the center field wall at Oracle Park.
For a couple of weeks after that injury, it looked like the Giants would have a hard time finding a roster spot when he returned. Heliot Ramos and Matos gave the Giants a boost, and Matos had a historic RBI-filled weekend at home that carried him to weekly honors. Ramos has continued to hit and is now the Giants’ best position player, but Matos has fallen into a deep depression.
Since driving in 11 runs in consecutive games, Matos is hitting .153 with zero extra-base hits in 63 plate appearances. He has a .343 OPS over his last 14 games and Giants coaches have tried to get him to be more selective in recent weeks. Matos has been aggressive at the beginning of the counts, which has caused many quick exits. He drew just three walks in 21 games during this last call.
“Aggressiveness is kind of who he is, but you can be too aggressive,” manager Bob Melvin said on the Giants Talk Podcast this week. “He was getting some good pitches early on when he first got here and being Player of the Week. Now, the league starts to learn you a little bit and (it’s), ‘Look, we can get a couple inches off the plate or whatever.’ The next adjustment is to make sure you get good pitches to hit and throw strikes.
“That’s what he’s struggling with right now. You don’t want to completely take away his aggressiveness, but there are always adjustments you have to make over the course of the season, especially in the big leagues, and I think that’s the one for him right now. same.”
The Giants will try to get the 22-year-old back on track by playing every day in Triple-A. With Jung Hoo Lee done for the year, they are left without everyday center fielder options, but Slater and Mike Yastrzemski have plenty of experience there and can pack a platoon for now. Tyler Fitzgerald and Brett Wisely can also play center as needed.
Slater hit just .128 in 49 scattered plate appearances before getting injured, but his career OPS against lefties is above .800, and Melvin will take another look to see if he can help spark a lineup that hasn’t scored much since that Matos entered. a bad stretch and LaMonte Wade Jr. got hurt.
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