SF Giants recall OF Luis Matos, place SS Brandon Crawford on 10-day IL

The SF Giants recalled one of their top prospects, outfielder Luis Matos, from Triple-A on Sunday after shortstop Brandon Crawford landed on the IL.

Marc Delucchi | Aug 20, 2023

SF Giants recall OF Luis Matos, place SS Brandon Crawford on 10-day IL /

In this story:

San Francisco Giants

While news broke that the SF Giants will be calling up top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison (Giants Top 4 Prospect) later in the week, the Giants recalled another one of their top prospects before Sunday's game in Atlanta. The Giants recalled outfielder Luis Matos (Giants Top 4 Prospect) from Triple-A Sacramento and placed veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to August 19th) with a left forearm strain. Crawford was hoping his forearm would bounce back after a couple of days of rest, but it seems like the team wants to give him more time.

SF Giants center fielder Luis Matos dashes out of the batter's box against the Arizona Diamondbacks (2023). — SF Giants OF Luis Matos dashes out of the batter's box against the Dbacks (2023) / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Matos, of course, made his highly-anticipated MLB debut earlier this season and got off to a solid start at the plate. However, the 21-year-old native of Venezuela struggled to generate enough power to take advantage of his contact skills. As he struggled at the plate, he also struggled defensively in center field, seeming overly hesitant on his jumps. So, less than a week ago, he was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento for another outfield prospect, Wade Meckler (Giants Top 22 Prospect).

Matos received 175 MLB plate appearances before his demotion, hitting .241/.306/.317 with seven doubles, a triple, a home run, an elite 12.0% strikeout rate, and a below-average 7.4% walk rate. In the minors, Matos has been one of the best hitters at each one of his stops. Matos was actually more productive at Triple-A than Double-A prior to his MLB call up. Overall, he has hit .336/.402/.536 with 13 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, 15 stolen bases, 25 walks, and 22 strikeouts in 262 minor league plate appearances this season.

Crawford's absence will continue to open up opportunities for recently called up MLB veteran Johan Camargo and prospect Casey Schmitt. It's not a secret that Crawford has struggled mightily this season, especially at the plate. If the season ended today, his .194/.264/.318 line would be his worst numbers since his rookie campaign back in 2011. The SF Giants hoped Schmitt could replace Crawford in the lineup earlier this season, but he was even more unproductive offensively.

Published Aug 20, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).