I was born and raised in Los Angeles, so Los Doyers has always been my squad. As a result, that team up in The Bay, where hella painfully reverberates in my dome, was a bastion of infidels. As I’ve gotten older and, hopefully, more emotionally mature, rooting for laundry is no longer my sole existence on this planet. I’ve come to appreciate the rivalry and success they have had as an organization. With fantasy becoming such an important part of my life now, rooting for players has taken greater precedence. As a Korean-American, I will root for any Korean player, even when Jung Hoo Lee signed with the San Francisco Giants. So when Lee injured himself while crashing into the outfield wall, I shouted, “NOOOO!!!” When it was announced that Lee would have season-ending surgery, I screamed, “NO MAS! NO MAS!” Lee’s injury allowed Luis Matos an opportunity. And he’s been balling out so hard that I’m singing, “MAS! MAS! MAS!” Yes, I’m a slut for stats.
Since Lee went down, Matos has received 26 plate appearances, slashing .385/.385/.731 with two home runs, 16 RBI and a .346 ISO!!! It’s a miniscule sample size, but is there something here? Let’s dig in and find out.
Matos is 22 years old, 5-foot-11, 160 pounds and bats from the right side. He signed with the Giants as an international free agent in 2018.
Throughout his minor league career, Matos has always been able to put bat to ball, as the strikeout rate never exceeded 16%. The walk rate, though, has been as low as 5% and as high as 12%. The batting average has been all over the map as well. What has been most interesting is the power. The ISO was near .200 early on, but then dipped into the low-.130s. Last year in Triple-A, the ISO was a robust .273 in 152 plate appearances. In 143 plate appearances in Triple-A this season, the ISO is down to .137.
When I initially looked into Matos, I dismissed the power due to the slight frame, but looking at the numbers and history, he’s always had pop. It just hasn’t been consistent. That took my mind to Jose Altuve, who is only 5-foot-6 and 166 pounds. For him, he had little to no power early on, but then the ISO slowly increased to where it is now, in the .200 range.
The turning point for Altuve was when he started pulling the ball more. Early in his career, the pull rate was in the high-30s to low 40s. In 2015, that number spiked to 45% then eventually got to over 50%. Now it is over 60%!
Matos is pulling the ball 51.7% this season. In 2023, the pull rate was 42.1%.
While the average exit velocity is only 86.4 mph, the launch angle is 16.1 degrees this season. Last season, it was only 6.3 degrees. The barrel rate is 6.9% compared to 2% while the line drive rate is 6.7% higher.
Looking at the plate discipline numbers, he’s much more aggressive, as all the swing rates are much higher. While the chase rate is 10% higher than last year, the swinging strike rate is 1.8% lower to 5.2%. The contact rates are elite at 96.7% in the zone and 90.4% in general. Contact outside the zone is 81.8%.
I’m very intrigued with Matos. I don’t think he’s a flash in the pan, but there could be some inconsistencies. In addition, the home park isn’t the greatest. That said, the plate discipline profile is elite and this power hasn’t come out of nowhere. There is history in that department and it looks like he’s made a conscious decision to be more aggressive and swing for power. With Lee out for the year, the opportunity is there for Matos. And he had 253 plate appearances in the majors last season, so this isn’t his first rodeo.
Of course, pitchers will eventually adjust. I’d imagine that they start going away more often so that he can’t turn on pitches. And he has been chasing pitches due to the increased aggression. Can he adjust to the adjustments and have the patience to wait for the pitches that he can turn on? It will be interesting to see how that cat-and-mouse game plays out.
