PHOENIX — Less than a month after he was named the National League’s player of the week, Luis Matos was packing up his bags Wednesday morning inside the visitors’ clubhouse at Chase Field.
The 23-year-old outfielder was optioned back to Triple-A Sacramento when Austin Slater was activated from the injured list before first pitch, a roster move that would have been unthinkable only a few weeks ago, when Matos drove in 11 runs in a two-game span and earned leaguewide honors alongside Aaron Judge.
Thus is the life of a young player trying to establish himself.
“Obviously he did some great things. Player of the week. About as hot as you can get for a while,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Slowed down a little bit since.”
While Matos was sent down with a batting line of .224/.247/.329 — a .577 OPS and 69 OPS+, 31% below league average — that doesn’t reflect the initial success he enjoyed, when it looked like he would be the Giants’ everyday center fielder in the wake of Jung Hoo Lee’s season-ending injury.
Hitting safely in 10 of his first 13 games after being called up May 12, Matos earned a promotion to the leadoff spot for 10 games and put himself in the company of some of the franchise’s greatest players with 16 RBIs in his first five games while making some highlight-worthy catches in center.
Matos’ OPS peaked at 1.115 after his six-RBI game May 18 and since has batted .153/.191/.153 with 10 strikeouts in 63 plate appearances.
“When we talked this morning, it was more about identifying better pitches to hit,” Melvin said. “He was getting good pitches to hit early on and he wasn’t missing them. When you go through a little bit of a funk, maybe you try to get a little aggressive. So just shrinking the zone.”
Making way for a more veteran right-handed bat, Melvin said the conversation with Matos “was a really tough one because he was instrumental when we had this little comeback to climb back over .500. He was right in the middle of everything.”
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The parting words Melvin offered to the young outfielder were, “to remember what he accomplished here and sometimes it’s just a numbers game. It’s as simple as that.
“He’s part of this team, even though he’s not here right now. It’s very disappointing for him, but to keep his chin up and keep going and he’s going to be back. I’m very confident in that.”
In the meantime, Slater assumed his normal spot atop the lineup and in center field with a left-hander, Jordan Montgomery, on the mound for the Diamondbacks. He played in five rehab games for Triple-A Sacramento since suffering a concussion and went 4-for-17, homering in his final game.
Against right-handers, Melvin said, “we’ll move some things around” and could even give a look in center to Heliot Ramos, who looked like he would be the odd man out before Matos cooled down and he heated up, reaching base in 23 of his past 25 games.
