ST. LOUIS — The Giants have reworked into an offensive juggernaut over the past two weeks, and Luis Matos has had no small function in that success.
Since being recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on Aug. 21, Matos is hitting .400/.429/.711 with three house runs, eight RBIs and 11 runs scored over 12 video games. In his fourth recreation again, Matos led the Giants to a win over the Milwaukee Brewers by hitting a two-run homer within the second, then scoring the go-ahead run on a single by Heliot Ramos within the ninth.
Matos, 23, made the Opening Day roster however has spent many of the season as a platoon bat towards left-handed pitching behind Mike Yastrzemski. On two events, he’s been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. With Yastrzemski traded to the Royals on the deadline, Matos is capitalizing on his first prolonged run of enjoying time this season.
It’s a sizzling streak that’s been a product of his personal willingness to vary.
“I was having issues with my timing,” Matos stated by way of workforce interpreter Erwin Higueros, “so I decided to change my whole approach and start from zero.”
One tweak Matos made was transferring up within the batter’s field to be nearer to the pitchers, which he believes permits him to capitalize on middle-inside pitches. Matos was 29 inches behind the entrance fringe of house plate in July, however in September, he’s moved as much as 22.1 inches.
Matos has additionally considerably widened his base. In July, his ft have been 42 inches aside on common. In September, that distance has expanded to 48.6 inches.
“It was done to use my legs, to be faster with my hands,” Matos stated. “When I wasn’t playing as often, I was having problems with that. I realized that spreading my legs was going to help me more with getting to the ball faster.”
Probably the most important tweak that Matos made was the adaption of a everlasting two-strike strategy.
Early within the season, there was a transparent distinction in Matos’ stride earlier than two strikes in comparison with with two strikes. Right here’s an at-bat by Matos again on March 29, his first recreation of the season. The primary clip is with the rely at 1-1, whereas the second clip is with the rely at 1-2. Discover that there’s a extra pronounced leg carry when Matos has one strike in comparison with two strikes:
Now, right here’s an at-bat by Matos on Sept. 3, an evening the place Matos singled and drew a stroll. The primary clip is with the rely at 0-0, the second with the rely being at 2-2. Together with a noticeably wider stance, Matos retains his stride brief from the start of the plate look and doesn’t alter his stride as soon as he will get to 2 strikes.
“Luis has a tremendous feel for what he’s doing in a time where we’ve lost that a little bit,” stated hitting coach Pat Burrell. “It’s become so mechanical and metric driven a lot of times. Then, you have a natural swinger with a baseball bat in Luis. I’m at the point with him where I just trust him, and that’s crazy because he’s 23, but I go, ‘Look, you know how to hit. You’ve always hit. I love what you do.’”
Added supervisor Bob Melvin: “He’s spread out a little bit more, even more with two strikes, just trying to take a lot of the movement out,” stated supervisor Bob Melvin. “He’s got quick hands, so it allows him to wait a little bit longer and lay of pitches out of the zone. I think getting to play quite a bit also is helping him as well. … He’s made some adjustments and it’s working for him.”
Matos’ pattern measurement is way too small to make any definitive assessments, however that is unquestionably one of the best that Matos has seemed all season. He’s raised his OPS on the season from .599 to .725 over this 12-game stretch, and he’ll possible be a mainstay within the Giants’ beginning lineups all through September.
“It’s nice to see him get some length here and get some opportunity. I think he’s doing a hell of a job with it,” Burrell stated. “He’s 23 and he’s still learning. When I was 23, I was in Double-A. He’s been up and down for three years — that doesn’t go unnoticed. He’s a very mature young man, but in terms of major-league at-bats, he’s still pretty green. But I think he’s working in the right direction. In fact, I know he is.”
Initially Printed: September 6, 2025 at 4:03 PM PDT
