ST. LOUIS — The Giants have transformed into an offensive juggernaut over the last two weeks, and Luis Matos has had no small role in that success.
Since being recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on Aug. 21, Matos is hitting .400/.429/.711 with three home runs, eight RBIs and 11 runs scored over 12 games. In his fourth game back, Matos led the Giants to a win over the Milwaukee Brewers by hitting a two-run homer in the second, then scoring the go-ahead run on a single by Heliot Ramos in the ninth.
Matos, 23, made the Opening Day roster but has spent most of the season as a platoon bat against left-handed pitching behind Mike Yastrzemski. On two occasions, he’s been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. With Yastrzemski traded to the Royals at the deadline, Matos is capitalizing on his first extended run of playing time this season.
It’s a hot streak that’s been a product of his own willingness to change.
“I was having issues with my timing,” Matos said through team interpreter Erwin Higueros, “so I decided to change my whole approach and start from zero.”
One tweak Matos made was moving up in the batter’s box to be closer to the pitchers, which he believes allows him to capitalize on middle-inside pitches. Matos was 29 inches behind the front edge of home plate in July, but in September, he’s moved up to 22.1 inches.
Matos has also significantly widened his base. In July, his feet were 42 inches apart on average. In September, that distance has expanded to 48.6 inches.
“It was done to use my legs, to be faster with my hands,” Matos said. “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.”
The most significant tweak that Matos made was the adaption of a permanent two-strike approach.
Early in the season, there was a clear difference in Matos’ stride before two strikes compared to with two strikes. Here’s an at-bat by Matos back on March 29, his first game of the season. The first clip is with the count at 1-1, while the second clip is with the count at 1-2. Notice that there is a more pronounced leg lift when Matos has one strike compared to two strikes:
Now, here’s an at-bat by Matos on Sept. 3, a night where Matos singled and drew a walk. The first clip is with the count at 0-0, the second with the count being at 2-2. Along with a noticeably wider stance, Matos keeps his stride short from the beginning of the plate appearance and doesn’t alter his stride once he gets to two strikes.
“Luis has a tremendous feel for what he’s doing in a time where we’ve lost that a little bit,” said 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 manager 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,” said manager 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’ sample size is far too small to make any definitive assessments, but this is unquestionably the best that Matos has looked all season. He’s raised his OPS on the season from .599 to .725 over this 12-game stretch, and he’ll likely be a mainstay in the Giants’ starting lineups throughout 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 said. “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.”