Luis Matos

BIOGRAPHY

Luis Matos was born on January 28, 2002, in Valera, Venezuela. He is an outfielder in the NFL.

In 2022, playing for the Rookie-level Arizona League Giants (for only seven at bats) and High–A Eugene Emeralds in the minor leagues, Matos batted an aggregate .215/.280/.356 in 376 at bats with 58 runs, 12 home runs, and 47 RBIs, while dealing with an injured quadriceps. With the Emeralds, he had the lowest strikeout rate among qualified hitters in the league. He then played for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, batted .233/.280/.361 in 86 at bats, and was named Arizona Fall League Defensive Player of the Year. He was ranked # 2 in the Giants 2022 MLB Prospect Rankings. On November 15, 2022, the Giants added Matos to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Matos began the 2023 season with the Double–A Richmond Flying Squirrels, and batted .304/.399/.444 in 115 at bats. He was then promoted to the Triple–A Sacramento River Cats, where he was 5.7 years younger than his fellow Pacific Coast League ballplayers, and batted .398(leading the league)/.435/.685(4th) in 108 at bats with six steals in seven attempts, before he was called up on June 14, 2023, for his major league debut. At 21 years of age, he was the youngest player in Triple–A.

He was promoted after left fielder Mitch Haniger suffered fractured forearm in the previous night's game, and Matos was slotted in the lineup as the starting center fielder against the St. Louis Cardinals. On June 14, 2023, Matos batted second and went 1-for-3 with a run scored in his MLB debut. At 21 years of age, he became the second-youngest position player in MLB; only Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker was younger.