PHOENIX, Ariz. — Luis Matos had a concrete plan in place when traveled to his native Venezuela to play winter ball, one which was equal elements easy and mandatory: swing at good pitches.
With that aim in place, Matos gained Rookie of the 12 months for Tiburones de La Guaira within the Venezuela Winter League, hitting .300 with 10 dwelling runs and 41 RBIs. That refined strategy stays his modus operandi in Arizona — a refined strategy that might land him on the Opening Day roster.
“The whole idea here was to have a plan,” Matos stated by workforce interpreter Erwin Higueros, “to have an idea and come in and hit — not just come to bat and swing like crazy. Ever since I played winter ball in Venezuela, that was my whole approach: make sure that I swung at good pitches.”
Matos, 23, checked that field on Friday afternoon at American Household Fields of Phoenix in opposition to the Milwaukee Brewers, launching a no-doubt, two-run dwelling run midway up the grass in left area for his second homer of spring. Of equal significance was what Matos prevented: swinging at unhealthy pitches. In his remaining plate look, Matos laid off 4 pitches out of the zone and drew his first stroll of Cactus League play. Matos made a leaping catch and crashed into the center-field wall, persevering with to strengthen his case to be San Francisco’s fourth outfielder.
“I’m not one of those (players) who’s looking for walks, but it’s good to have one,” Matos stated. “I’m going to become more and more patient at the plate.”
Matos possesses among the finest bat-to-ball abilities within the group, probably second behind solely Jung Hoo Lee. Over two major-league seasons, Matos has made contact on 85.5% of pitches he’s swung at, which might be the Fifteenth-best mark in baseball final season. It ought to come as no shock, then, that Matos is great at minimizing whiffs and strikeouts. The realm the place Matos stands to most enhance is tempering his aggressiveness.
Final season, Matos had one of many worst chase charges in baseball. He swung at 40.1% of pitches he noticed that have been outdoors the strike zone, and if Matos had sufficient plate appearances to qualify, he’d rank in roughly the third percentile. With such a swing-happy strategy, Matos solely walked in 3.2% of all plate appearances final season, which might’ve been the fourth-lowest mark in all of baseball.
“He hasn’t walked yet, but his thing is swinging,” stated supervisor Bob Melvin earlier than Friday’s 11-5 loss to the Brewers. “He’s getting better pitches to hit, and that’s always going to be the most important thing: not chasing too much. Last year, when he was getting pitches to hit, he went crazy. Then, all of a sudden, he was a little bit too aggressive. So, even though he hasn’t walked, we’ve seen him get a little deeper in counts and I think that’s a progression for him.”
The Giants entered this spring with Matos, Grant McCray and Marco Luciano as their three fundamental candidates to win that fourth outfielder position. Whereas Luciano was technically within the combine, Matos and McCray stood out because the favorites contemplating Luciano was changing from center infielder to nook outfielder. When Luciano was a part of the primary wave of cuts, the battle between Matos and McCray started in earnest.
During the last a number of weeks, Matos and McCray achieved their respective elements to make the workforce. Matos owns a .349 batting common and .899 OPS with two homers, two steals and 11 RBIs; McCray has a .323 batting common and .963 OPS with one homer, 4 RBIs and 4 steals. They’ve each performed nicely, so who has the sting? On Friday morning, Melvin could have tipped his hand when requested about stolen bases.
“Some of our faster guys that are stealing bases potentially might not be here to start the season,” Melvin stated.
McCray, arguably the quickest participant in camp, undoubtedly suits that profile. There are different components working in Matos’ favor, too.
For in addition to McCray has performed this spring, he’s solely performed 37 video games within the majors in comparison with Matos’ 121 video games. McCray flashed each energy (5 homers) and pace (5 steals) throughout his temporary time in San Francisco however struck out in 43.1% of his plate appearances final season.
The 23-year-old Matos additionally has the good thing about being a right-handed hitter, one who can begin for the left-handed hitting Mike Yastrzemski on days that the opposing workforce begins a lefty. Matos has hit higher in opposition to lefties (.758 OPS) in comparison with righties (.561 OPS); Yastrzemski, unsurprisingly, has been the other, proudly owning an .809 OPS in opposition to righties in comparison with a .686 OPS in opposition to lefties. During the last 4 seasons, particularly, Yastrzemski has a .580 OPS in opposition to left-handers. Matos’ homer on Friday, appropriately sufficient, was in opposition to left-hander Nestor Cortes.
“My mindset is that I can only control what I can control,” Matos stated. “My performance is going to dictate what the team wants to do with me.”
Roupp shoves in opposition to minor league competitors
The competitors for the fifth spot within the Giants’ rotation continued to warmth up as Landen Roupp threw 5 scoreless innings at Papago Park with 13 strikeouts to 1 stroll.
Sure, 13 strikeouts.
Roupp, 26, set the tone for his outing by punching out the primary 9 batters that he confronted, touchdown 51 of the 66 pitches that he threw for strikes. The outing represented a constructive momentum swing for Roupp, who allowed 5 earned runs over 3 2/3 innings in opposition to the Chicago Cubs in his final outing.
Curiously sufficient, Melvin opted to observe Roupp’s begin over at Papago Park as a substitute of managing the Giants in opposition to the Brewers at American Household Fields of Phoenix.
Hicks kicks behavior
Jordan Hicks placed on a major quantity of weight this offseason to arrange for his second season as a beginning pitcher. He made an equally necessary life choice to make sure he maintains that weight.
The 28-year-old Hicks advised reporters after his begin on Friday that he give up nicotine this offseason, which he believed suppressed his urge for food. Together with quitting nicotine, Hicks stated he hasn’t drank alcohol since final season and plans to be within the weight room twice per week. Whereas Hicks stated he may need an occasional beer, he has no intention of returning to nicotine.
“It’s unhealthy in general,” stated Hicks, who pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed 4 earned runs on a grand slam to Christian Yelich. “I’m simply at that age the place if you happen to don’t give up, you’re going to do it for all times. I didn’t need to be that individual — no knock on anyone, nevertheless it’s simply not me anymore.
