Luis Matos has an opportunity to earn a permanent spot on the Giants’ roster.
The highly-touted outfield prospect was promoted to the big leagues on Wednesday after veteran outfielder Mitch Haniger suffered a forearm fracture in San Francisco’s 11-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi joined 95.7 The Game’s Mark Willard and Larry Krueger on Friday, where he was asked what will happen to Matos if he is playing well by the time Haniger returns.
“This is, unfortunately, given the prognosis we have on Mitch, it’s going to be a while, it’s going to be a couple of months,” Zaidi said. “If Luis plays anything like the way he was in Sacramento and shows the ability to be a productive everyday player, we’re not going to send him down. He’s going to stay with the team and we’re going to have to figure out how the pieces work around him.
“Gabe [Kapler] has shown the ability, our staff has shown the ability to manage a rotation of guys, to get guys days off and to play matchups when it makes sense. It’ll make for a deeper roster and we’ll have to move some things around, but I don’t see us sending Luis back if he plays well these next two months. It’ll be great development for us.”
Haniger underwent successful surgery on Thursday to repair a fractured ulna and the Giants’ initial assessment determined Haniger will likely miss 10 weeks, which gives Matos, if he plays well, over two months to claim a starting outfield spot.
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If Haniger is able to return this season, the Giants will deal with their crowded outfield situation when the time comes. However, MLB rosters will expand from 26 to 28 players starting September 1, which could be around the time Haniger is ready to return. If the timing lines up, the Giants could avoid this dilemma altogether.
Until then, Matos will have every opportunity to establish himself as an everyday player.
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