LOS ANGELES — Luis Matos spent Thursday’s off-day with many of his teammates at Disneyland. So he’s going from the happiest place on earth to some of the brightest lights in baseball: Dodger Stadium.
Matos already debuted and recorded his first MLB hit this week in St. Louis. But although the Giants and Cardinals certainly have history, it’s hardly Giants-Dodgers.
Matos, 21, will get his first taste of one of baseball’s oldest rivalries Friday night in Dodger Stadium. The game, which is the Dodgers’ Pride Night, will likely sell out.
“I’ve heard about the rivalry, and I just feel that it’s going to be an honor for me to play here against the Dodgers,” Matos said.
The outfielder singled in his first career at-bat, sneaking a drive through the left side of the Cardinals’ infield in a 1-for-3 debut. He said every baseball player’s dream is to make his debut, and the hit made everything that much better. It helped him relax a little bit, he added.
At 21 years and 137 days old, Matos is the fifth youngest Giant to record his first hit since 1984, behind Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Connor Gillespie, and Matt Williams.
Matos has only been with the big-league club for a couple of days, but has already gravitated toward veterans Wilmer Flores and Thairo Estrada — his fellow Venezuela natives. He’s said they’ve been giving him advice of what to do and what not to do.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler said he sees some similar poise that Estrada and Flores have demonstrated through the years.
“I’ll say this about Luis: he embodies, I think what we want in San Francisco, which is calm, even, not too high, not too low,” Kapler said. “I don’t think this moment is going to be too big for him. You saw how relaxed he was at the plate in his Major League debut against the Cardinals. Not that Dodger Stadium isn’t different — it is. Or that the rivalry doesn’t factor in — it does. But I just kind of respect that Luis is going to be fine through it.”
When asked about if Matos will have an everyday role, Kapler said that will be determined on a read-and-react basis based on his play. On Friday, Matos is playing center field and batting eighth, one spot ahead of shortstop Brandon Crawford.
Crawford, the 13-year-veteran, is lacing up for his 168th career regular season game in Dodger Stadium — the most among active players.
- Matos got called up because Mitch Haniger fractured his right forearm, which required surgery. His time with the Giants may depend on how long Haniger remains sidelined.
Haniger underwent successful surgery on Thursday and is expected to miss the next 10 weeks. He fractured his ulna and had plate and screws inserted as part of his procedure. Asked specifically about that 10-week timetable, which would peg Haniger’s return to late August, Kapler didn’t provide further information.
“We’re talking about two-plus months out, there’s probably some flexibility in there in terms of how long a rehab assignment takes for the exact timetable,” Kapler said.
- J.D. Davis went through a pregame routine and the Giants are hoping to get him ready to come off the bench as soon as this weekend. Davis is day-to-day with a Grade 1 ankle sprain.
The Dodgers will be missing their All-Star caliber third baseman, as Max Muncy hit the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain. Muncy hit four home runs in 10 plate appearances against the Giants in their first series of the year, recording 11 RBI and a .556 average.
- John Brebbia is making his eighth start of the year this season as the Giants’ opener. He has a career 0.95 ERA as an opener and will match up with Emmett Sheehan, who got called up from Double-A.
Alex Wood (back) is with the team in LA and is a likely candidate to come off the IL and start on Saturday, with the Giants currently listing TBA as their starter.