TORONTO — Luis Matos isn’t a Star Wars fan. The Giants rookie hasn’t seen the movies. But, he said, the most enjoyable part of his second day in the major leagues was riding all the attractions in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the recently opened exhibit at Disneyland.
Why’s that?
Teammates Wilmer Flores and Thairo Estrada were right there by his side.
“It meant a lot,” Matos said this week in Spanish. “I just happened to go because that’s where Thairo and Flores went. … It was the first day I was actually able to spend time with them. We had a great time.”
At one point in their careers, Estrada and Flores were in the same place as Matos: precocious young Venezuelans, living far away from home, suddenly the new face in a major league clubhouse. So, when the Giants began planning a team trip to Disneyland on their off day last week in Los Angeles, they knew what to do.
“I know how it is,” Estrada said in Spanish. “We decided that all three of us would go together so that he knows that he has us to be around.”
Flores said, “Being a young guy, especially from Venezuela, we’re trying to make him feel as comfortable as possible. Anything he wants to ask, anything I need him to know, I tell him.”
By all appearances, Matos has had no trouble fitting in despite his young age and rapid ascension through the minor leagues.
At 21 years old, Matos is the second-youngest position player in the majors. He arrived with just 55 games above Single-A under his belt. When he recorded his first big-league homer on Saturday, he became the youngest Giants player to leave the yard since Matt Williams in 1987, 15 years before Matos was born.
Thrust into the spotlight at Dodger Stadium, Matos didn’t just draw three walks in one game. He bat flipped after them.
The only player in franchise history to score as many runs as Matos in his first 10 games has a statue outside Oracle Park.
“I guess there’s your actual age and then there’s your baseball age,” Giants veteran starter Alex Cobb said. “He just looks far beyond his years as a rookie or a 21-year-old in terms of, we talk about it with (Patrick) Bailey, the calmness, the demeanor. With Matos, you see it in center field, the calmness going after balls. The awareness of his surroundings. And then at the plate, he just has insane plate discipline for a guy his age.”
One key to his quick acclimation was his invite to big-league spring training this year. For the first time in his life, Matos suited up and trained with the same players and staff he would join in short order, less than two months into the season. Walking into the clubhouse inside St. Louis’ Busch Stadium, Matos remarked to Flores how many familiar faces he recognized.
Estrada also was 21 when he earned his first invite to big-league camp with the Yankees, eventually making his major-league debut at 23. Back then, it was Starlin Castro, Ronald Torreyes and Luis Severino who showed him the ropes. Since arriving in San Francisco, Estrada has struck up a similar relationship with Flores, who he called his “big brother.” Well, consider Estrada the middle child now.
“I had people that helped me when I started, fellow countrymen that helped me learn the ways here,” Estrada said. “For me, it’s an honor to be able to pay back and guide him the right way to do things the right way here.”
Ten years ago, Flores was a 21-year-old rookie with the New York Mets.
“I wish when I was 21 I had the eye at the plate that he has,” Flores said, letting out a laugh. Eleven games into his major-league career, Matos still has more walks (six) than strikeouts (four). “I got to the big leagues and I was just swinging at everything, trying to make things happen.”
Of course, there is going to be a learning curve for any rookie.
Take Matos’ game on Saturday, for example.
Before his home run, he was picked off first base and missed the cutoff man on a throw from right field, allowing two runners to advance into scoring position.
Matos has another good quality in him, then.
“He asks a lot of questions,” Estrada said. “Things that he does, he wants to know if there’s a better way to do it.”
When possible, the elder statesmen try to provide an answer.
“Thairo and Flores are the ones that are basically taking me under their wings, telling me what to do, what not to do,” Matos said. “When I first got here, what they helped me with was showing me the ropes, how everything was done here in the big leagues. Now it’s more like asking them questions about the pitchers that we face – what they throw, how the ball moves, how should I attack them?”
The best piece of advice, according to Matos: Be yourself.
“It’s just mainly to make sure that he enjoys the game,” Estrada said. “When you first get to the big leagues, it’s like the game is just so fast for you. So what we’re trying to do is slow it down for him just a little bit … It’s not easy for somebody to come in and do what he’s doing. He’s doing like he’s been doing it forever.”
Flores said, “He’ll be here a long time. We’re going to have a lot of talks.”
“It’s like the new kid in school,” Estrada added. “He hangs out with us and hopefully he can glean all that experience that Wilmer has and then he can be a superstar himself.”
Question corner
What advice would Giants veterans give to their 21-year-old teammate?
Alex Cobb: “I think that when guys come up now, they have a better plan and that plan is better-suited for the big leagues. That would be my only suggestion. I wouldn’t touch that. I would just suggest that when the challenges and the slumps and the struggles happen that you maintain what got you here. The same mindset. The same plate discipline. If you have a certain pitch that you’re looking for, you stay with that. When things are going bad, you tend to press a little bit too much and start getting out of your game plan. That’s how you fail over the long term.”
LaMonte Wade Jr.: “I would tell him to find a good routine and find a routine that works for him. Just stay consistent within your routine and not try to do much. Stay within yourself and just remember that it’s a game. You’re gonna have your ups and downs but just stick the course and as long as you continue to put in the work, everything should be good.”
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