Luis Matos earns PCL Player of the Week Award

Jun 18, 2024, 8:49 AM | Updated: 9:30 am

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 24: Luis Matos #78 of the San Francisco Giants poses for a portrait ...

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Lead Editor & Kings Beat Writer

Although he was sent down to AAA on June 5th, Luis Matos hasn’t let that affect his confidence.

The San Francisco Giants outfielder has been on a tear with the Sacramento River Cats, earning PCL Player of the Week honors for his performance during the week of June 10-16th.

Over six games, the 22-year-old hit .464 (13-for-28), mashed five home runs, drove in 13 RBI and scored nine runs.

Matos was logging regular playing time with San Francisco before hitting a cold stretch that saw the outfielder go four-for-31 (.129) from May 26th through June 4th. The Giants sent Matos down to AAA and activated Austin Slater on June 7th.

If Matos continues to rake at the AAA level, they could call the young talent up for another look this summer as San Francisco attempts to make a playoff push.

Matos wastes no time with a homer in the 1st pic.twitter.com/wWbRSuGriO

— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) June 16, 2024

More on SF Giants outfielder Luis Matos

Release courtesy of Sacramento River Cats communications

An incredible week for Sacramento River Cats outfielder Luis Matos has earned him recognition from the Pacific Coast League, as Matos was named the PCL Player of the Week for his series performance against the Reno Aces from June 10-16 as announced by MiLB on Monday.

Matos started in all six games in Reno, Nev., batting .464 (13-for-28) while being one of the top offensive threats on the team with nine runs scored, six doubles, five homers, and 13 RBI. The Venezuela native reached base in over half of his plate appearances (.516 on-base percentage) and finished the week with a 1.730 OPS.

In each of the first two games he hit a home run, the first time this year he has homered in consecutive games this year after doing so three times in 2023. During those same two contests, he totaled nine RBI, five of which came during Wednesday’s battle when he also scored three runs, making him the second River Cat this season (joining Tyler Fitzgerald) and 28th in franchise history to score three times while driving in five during the same game.

On Saturday, he notched his third three-hit game of the series, pushing his total to four on the season, with all four coming at Greater Nevada Field against the Aces. Matos closed out the series by smacking a double in each of his final two games while also hitting his second first-inning home run on Sunday, and seven of his eight homers this year have been against the Aces in Reno.

This is the first Triple-A weekly recognition in Matos’ career, though he has one other weekly honor as he was named the CAL Player of the Week with the San Jose Giants (A) on Aug. 1, 2021.

Today’s weekly award is the fourth of the season for the River Cats, which matches the four they had from the 2023 season when Kyle Harrison was twice named PCL Pitcher of the Week, while Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald were each once PCL Player of the Week.

In 2024, Fitzgerald was again named a PCL Player of the Week once on May 27, while right-handers Mason Black (April 15) and Tommy Romero (June 10) collected PCL Pitcher of the Week honors. Those are all in addition to the Pitcher of the Month honor earned by Spencer Bivens, the first for Sacramento since Austin Slater earned monthly recognition back in August 2016.

Fans can catch Luis Matos at Sutter Health Park this week against the Round Rock Express (TEX) as the River Cats close out the first half of the PCL season, with Sacramento trailing the Sugar Land Space Cowboys by three games in the race for the first-half title.