Brewers Select Brian Fitzpatrick, Outright Luis Matos
3:45pm: Manager Pat Murphy says that Zerpa’s issue is concerning, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The lefty is likely facing a notable absence but will undergo further testing and will get a second opinion.
2:45pm: The Brewers announced that left-hander Angel Zerpa has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 26th, with left forearm tightness. Fellow lefty Brian Fitzpatrick has been selected to take his place on the active roster. Milwaukee has had a 40-man vacancy since they designated outfielder Luis Matos for assignment last week. Matos cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Nashville, per the Brewers today.
Zerpa hasn’t been in good form this year, his first as a Brewer. He has a 6.39 earned run average and his fastball velocity is down about one mile per hour relative to last year. Details on his injury haven’t yet been provided but the club will perhaps provide some more info in the future.
Regardless of the specifics, his injury opens a path for Fitzpatrick to make his major league debut, a few weeks before he turns 26 in June. A tenth-round pick from 2022, Fitzpatrick isn’t a top prospect but put up some intriguing numbers in the minors last year. He started at High-A and quickly got bumped to Double-A. Between those two stops, he tossed 39 1/3 innings with a 2.06 ERA. He struck out 28.8% of batters faced while limiting walks to a 7.8% clip.
He got promoted to Triple-A in August but struggled, posting a 6.87 ERA over 13 appearances. He returned to that level to start 2026 and has fared much better, with 10 1/3 scoreless innings. He has a 28.9% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 54.5% ground ball rate. His four-seamer and sinker are both averaging above 93 miles per hour while he’s also throwing a slider and changeup around 83 mph.
Swapping in Fitzpatrick for Zerpa allows the Brewers to keep their bullpen balanced with four righties and four lefties, the other three southpaws being Aaron Ashby, DL Hall and Shane Drohan. That’s with Zerpa, Rob Zastryzny and Jared Koenig all on the IL. Since this is Fitzpatrick’s first time on a big league roster, he has a full slate of options and could be sent back to Triple-A at some point if other guys get healthy or fresh arms are needed.
As for Matos, he was once a notable prospect with the Giants but he struggled to produce in the majors. He languished in the minors a lot and eventually exhausted his option years. Out of options coming into 2026, he got squeezed into DFA limbo and was flipped to the Brewers in a cash trade. His struggles in the big leagues continued for a few weeks and the Brewers designated him for assignment last week.
Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he does not have the right to elect free agency. The Brewers can keep him as non-roster depth and will see if they can get him back on track. They have had some decent results with post-hype hitters, including Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers. With Matos, he has a .230/.279/.363 line in the majors but a much better .287/.345/.505 slash in Triple-A.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Imagn Images
Brewers Designate Luis Matos For Assignment
The Brewers announced that they have recalled infielder/outfielder Tyler Black and left-hander Shane Drohan. In corresponding moves, they have optioned right-hander Carlos Rodriguez and designated outfielder Luis Matos for assignment.
Matos, 24, was once a top prospect with the Giants. However, he struggled to click in the majors and exhausted his option years. Coming into 2026 out of options, the Giants couldn’t fit him onto their Opening Day roster, so he was designated for assignment.
The Brewers took a shot on him, sending cash considerations to San Francisco in exchange. Matos has been on their bench so far this year. He has stepped to the plate 21 times in nine games, producing a .200/.238/.200 line in those. He has now been squeezed into DFA limbo yet again, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Brewers could take as long as five days to see if there’s any trade interest.
The major league track record doesn’t provide much optimism, as Matos now has a .230/.279/.363 line in 614 plate appearances spread across four seasons. Any interest would be based on his past prospect pedigree and minor league production. He was a notable international signing and was considered a top 100 guy a few years ago. He’s been a better hitter in the minors but he’s been more good than great lately. He slashed .268/.329/.469 on the farm over 2024 and 2025 for a 104 wRC+.
If Matos lands somewhere else, he will need to be on the active roster, due to his out-of-options status. He has between one and two years of service time. If he does click on another roster, he can be controlled for four seasons after this one. If he were to clear waivers, the Brewers could keep him as non-roster depth.
Parting with Matos allows the Brewers to call up Black. He has also been a notable prospect in recent years but hasn’t been able to carve out much big league playing time. He was sent to the plate 70 times over the 2024 and 2025 seasons and was only able to produce a .211/.357/.263 line in that small sample.
He’s been much better in the minors. Dating back to the start of 2023, the first year he reached the Triple-A level, he has a combined .270/.395/.453 line and 128 wRC+. His 15% walk rate and 19.7% strikeout rate in that span are both a few ticks better than average.
His future defensive home has been more of a question. He has some experience at the non-shortstop infield positions and the outfield. The Brewers haven’t had him at second base since 2022 and he hasn’t played third since 2024. Even though they’re not getting much production from the left side of the infield right now, Black apparently won’t help in that regard.
He’s been playing the outfield corners more than first base this year, so perhaps the Brewers will have him in the outfield mix, since Jake Bauers is doing okay at first. They currently have Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich and Akil Baddoo on the injured list. That leaves them with Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell and Brandon Lockridge getting the playing time in the outfield, with Greg Jones and Blake Perkins on the bench. Mitchell is the only guy in that healthy group with a wRC+ above 95 at the moment, so perhaps Black can charge in ahead of the other guys. There’s also the designated hitter spot to consider, though the Brewers are largely using that to split playing time between catchers William Contreras and Gary Sánchez.
Photo courtesy of Mark Hoffman, Imagn Images
Brewers Acquire Luis Matos
The Brewers announced that they have acquired outfielder Luis Matos from the Giants in exchange for cash considerations. San Francisco had designated Matos for assignment last week when setting their Opening Day roster. To open a 40-man spot for him, Milwaukee has designated left-hander Sammy Peralta for assignment. Matos is out of options, so the Brewers will also need to open an active roster spot for him when he reports to the team.
Milwaukee is buying low on a former top prospect. Matos was a fairly high profile international signing out of Venezuela and he performed well against lower-level pitching. Going into 2022, Baseball America ranked him the #73 prospect in all of baseball. In November of that year, the Giants added him to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
He hasn’t been able to click in the majors. Over the past three seasons, the Giants sent him to the plate 593 times. His 14.2% strikeout rate was quite low but he also drew a walk at a subpar rate of 6.1%. He hit 15 home runs but his 231/.281/.369 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 80, putting him 20% below league average. He may have been held back by a .247 batting average on balls in play but his batted ball data wasn’t popping off the charts. His defensive metrics have been quite poor, though he’s been better in the corners than in center.
His minor league offense has been better in that time. In 823 minor league plate appearances over the past three years, he has 33 home runs and a .290/.354/.495 line. Even though most of those numbers were put up in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, wRC+ still considered him to have been 19% above league average in that time.
As he was shuttled between Triple-A and the minors, he exhausted his option years. That made it harder for the Giants to keep committing a roster spot to him. They preferred to use their bench spots to keep the power bat of Jerar Encarnación and the speed of Jared Oliva.
The Brewers will take a shot on him. They have recently gotten good results from a few guys that other clubs gave up on, with Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers being a couple of examples. Perhaps they can get a similar post-hype breakout from Matos. He has under two years of club control, so he can be retained through 2030 if that pans out. He will qualify for arbitration at the end of this year as a Super Two guy if he holds his spot all year.
For now, he’ll have to find some playing time in the outfield. For the moment, Milwaukee has Jackson Chourio, Steward Berroa and Akil Baddoo on the injured list. That leaves them with Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Brandon Lockridge and Blake Perkins, with Christian Yelich perhaps playing the field on occasion when he’s not the designated hitter. One of them could be optioned to the minors to open a spot for Matos. Perkins started the season on optional assignment and was recalled when Chourio got hurt, so perhaps he will be the move.
Matos is a righty bat and he has better numbers against southpaws, so perhaps he can carve out a short-side platoon role as Mitchell and Frelick are lefties. Matos has a .238/.302/.411 line against lefties in his big league career, compared to a .226/.267/.342 slash against righties.
Peralta, 28 in May, was just claimed off waivers from the Angels in October. He was optioned to Triple-A Nashville earlier this month and therefore hasn’t appeared in a big league game for the Brewers. He has 45 2/3 innings on his track record from the previous three seasons with a 5.12 earned run average, 17.3% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate and 40.8% ground ball rate.
The lefty tossed 70 2/3 Triple-A innings last year. His 4.33 ERA wasn’t especially impressive but that performance came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 24.1% strikeout rate, 4.8% walk rate and 45.5% ground ball rate were all decent figures. He still has an option remaining and could appeal to a club looking for some pitching depth. DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Brewers could take a maximum of five days to explore trade talks.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Giants Likely To Designate Luis Matos For Assignment
The Giants are planning to designate outfielder Luis Matos for assignment, reports Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. She adds that minor league signee Jared Oliva is expected to break camp in a bench role, so he’ll take Matos’ spot on the active and 40-man rosters.
Matos is out of minor league options. Formerly one of the organization’s top position player prospects, he was one of the most intriguing players fighting to hold his 40-man spot this spring. The Giants gave him a look long in camp, as he led the team with 23 games and 55 plate appearances.
After a quick start, Matos’ bat cooled in the middle of March. He finished the spring with a .260/.327/.440 line with two home runs. Matos only struck out three times but also took just one walk, as his on-base percentage was propped up by getting plunked by four pitches.
That aggressiveness has undercut Matos’ production in meaningful games. He’s a .231/.281/.369 hitter over parts of three MLB seasons. Matos has taken just under 600 plate appearances, the rough equivalent to one full season of playing time. He has hit 15 homers with strong contact rates but has worked walks at a modest 6.1% clip.
The Giants can wait until tomorrow morning to officially designate Matos for assignment. They’ll then have five days to try to trade him. If nothing comes together, they’d need to place him on waivers. There’s a decent chance he’ll be claimed, as he’s a 24-year-old former notable prospect who owns a .287/.345/.505 line over three Triple-A seasons. If another team acquires him via trade or waivers, they’d need to carry him on the big league roster.
Matos’ exclusion means the Giants will probably carry Jerar Encarnacion. He’s also an out-of-options outfielder who fits best in a corner or at designated hitter. He can get regular playing time at DH with Bryce Eldridge opening the season in the minors. San Francisco optioned depth outfielders Will Brennan and Drew Gilbert to Triple-A Sacramento this evening.
Rule 5 pick Daniel Susac is expected to win the backup catcher job. Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss seem ticketed for utility infield roles. That’ll very likely leave Oliva as a fifth outfielder and backup center fielder behind Harrison Bader. Assuming he’s officially selected onto the roster tomorrow, it’ll be his first MLB work in five years.
Oliva played in 26 big league games with the Pirates between 2020-21. He has bounced around the upper minors for the past few seasons without returning to the big league level. Oliva had a league average .252/.335/.413 batting line with 57 stolen bases in Triple-A with the Milwaukee organization last year. He signed a minor league deal with San Francisco over the winter and seized a job with his continued aggressiveness on the bases.
The righty-hitting outfielder stole 14 bags in 15 attempts. His .375 average over 20 games is unlikely to be a precursor to much of an impact at the plate, but the Giants are opting for more speed and defense in the final bench spot than Matos would have provided.
Out Of Options Players To Watch This Spring
The final few days of Spring Training always come with a significant amount of roster shuffling. Prospects play their way onto the team. Veterans on minor league deals trigger opt-out or upward mobility clauses that force teams to decide whether to select their contracts or let them go. Each of those unexpected promotions costs someone else an active roster spot.
For players who still have minor league options remaining, that's less likely to spur roster movement. They can be sent down without going on waivers, so they'll only be designated for assignment if they're the final player on the 40-man roster. Teams face a tougher call when deciding on a fringe player who is out of options. Do they shoehorn them onto the bench or in a low-leverage relief role? If not, there's a decent chance they're losing that player via waivers or a trade for a minimal return.
We've already seen a number of players whose out-of-options status has pushed them around the league. Although it's not technically an offseason consideration, an out-of-options player is more likely to be DFA over the winter if the team thinks they'll inevitably be squeezed off the roster at the end of Spring Training.
Jack Suwinski, Vidal Brujan, Ben Rortvedt, Andy Ibáñez and Marco Luciano are among the players who have changed teams at least once (often multiple times) because of their out-of-options status. The Yankees finally succeeded in getting Luciano through waivers unclaimed. The other four players remain on their clubs' respective 40-man rosters, though with the possible exception of Ibáñez, they're all facing uphill paths to avoiding another DFA a month from now.
We'll run through a few more who could be playing for their jobs this spring. This isn't our annual exhaustive list of every out-of-options player on a 40-man roster. That'll also be published soon and will include a number of names (e.g. Edward Cabrera, Jo Adell) who obviously aren't getting cut. This exercise will set aside any players like those aforementioned who have already changed teams this offseason and plenty more who seem most likely to clear waivers and remain with their current clubs in a non-roster capacity.
- Luis Matos/Jerar Encarnacion (Giants)
The Giants are unlikely to have room on the roster for Matos and Encarnacion. There's a decent chance they both end up squeezed off the roster. They're each right-handed bats with limited defensive value. Matos has played some center field but should be limited to the corners. Encarnacion is a corner outfielder/first baseman.
Matos has the better shot of the two to win a bench job. He's four years younger and not too far removed from being one of the organization's better prospects. Matos has had flashes of capable offense built around his plus bat-to-ball skills, but an aggressive approach has limited his consistency. The 24-year-old owns a .231/.281/.369 batting line with 15 home runs across 593 MLB plate appearances over the past three years. He's a .287/.345/.505 hitter at the Triple-A level.
Encarnacion hasn't produced much in 54 big league games over the past two seasons. His '25 campaign was repeatedly interrupted by injuries. Encarnacion has mashed in Triple-A when healthy and has obvious power upside in a 6'4", 260 pound frame.
Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription
- Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
- Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
- Remove ads and support our writers.
- Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker
Giants Notes: Lee, Matos, Rotation, Closer
The Giants officially announced their two-year deal with Harrison Bader on Friday afternoon. President of baseball operations Buster Posey and general manager Zack Minasian conducted a conference call with the beat to introduce their new outfielder.
Posey confirmed that Bader will be the everyday center fielder, a move that pushes Jung Hoo Lee into right field on most days (link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). It doesn’t appear the incumbent center fielder had any issue with the change. “Jung Hoo was great,” Posey said of his reaction to the signing. “Also there’s an understanding on our end and to Jung Hoo that there’s a chance that he could still be getting reps in center field. But our plan is to have Bader playing center field.”
Lee had a decent amount of right field experience in Korea. He has played exclusively up the middle over his two seasons in the majors. Lee’s physical tools are strong. He’s an above-average runner with plus arm strength. His first step and routes weren’t as polished, and defensive metrics weren’t fond of his overall work. Statcast graded him five runs below average, while Defensive Runs Saved had him a glaring 18 runs worse than an average center fielder. No player had a worse DRS mark at the position.
The 27-year-old should grade more favorably in his new position. He’s a much better athlete than most corner outfielders. There’ll still be plenty of ground to cover in home games thanks to Oracle Park’s massive right-center gap. The move to a corner will put a little more pressure on the bat. Lee is coming off a solid but unspectacular .266/.327/.407 slash across 617 plate appearances. That’s much better than the .241/.303/.395 league mark for center fielders but lands more middle-of-the-pack in right, where the average player batted .247/.319/.422 last year.
Right field was the biggest weak point in the San Francisco lineup. After they traded Mike Yastrzemski at the deadline, their right fielders hit .202/.249/.376 across 194 plate appearances. Drew Gilbert projects as a fourth or fifth outfielder. Luis Matos was a well-regarded prospect but hasn’t found much success on either side of the ball over three MLB seasons. Matos is out of minor league options and will be a player to watch in camp, as he’ll either need to win a bench job or be taken off the 40-man roster.
Pushing Lee to right field leaves second base as the last potential position of need. The Giants have looked for upgrades over Casey Schmitt, with reports tying them to various trade targets (e.g. Brendan Donovan, Nico Hoerner, CJ Abrams). Posey declined to go into specifics in response to a question about trading for a second baseman, but that appears to be a bigger priority than further augmenting the rotation. The Giants stayed away from the top of the market, instead signing back-end arms Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser to short-term deals.
Even as Framber Valdez remains unsigned, Posey downplayed the desire to add another starter. “We’re happy with our rotation right now, with some of the adjustments that Houser made last year, and we feel like Mahle is in a good place physically,” he said (relayed by John Shea of The San Francisco Standard). “You’re never going to close doors, but we feel good with the group that we have.”
They’ve taken a similar approach to the bullpen despite losing key contributors Camilo Doval, Tyler Rogers and Randy Rodríguez (the latter to Tommy John surgery) from last season. They’ve taken one-year fliers on Sam Hentges and Jason Foley, both of whom are returning from shoulder surgeries. There’ll be plenty of high-leverage innings available as first-year manager Tony Vitello evaluates the group. That extends to the closer role. Ryan Walker has the most ninth-inning experience of their relievers but is coming off an uneven year.
Walker tells Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle that he’s hoping to win the job, though it seems like it’ll be an open competition in Spring Training. “As we sit here today, I think we’re hoping that Ryan Walker can get back to his 2024 form. But without discussing it with Tony in depth, I guess the way that I would see it now is that we’ll see who steps up,” Posey told reporters (including Slusser). “We’re not coming into this season necessarily with one guy that we say, ‘You are going to be the closer.’ There’s a chance that somebody takes the reins and does slot in to that closer role as we get into the season, but right now I wouldn’t say that there’s one person that we’re targeting for the ninth inning.”
Giants Select Joel Peguero
The Giants announced a series of roster moves today, recalling outfielder Luis Matos and selecting right-hander Joel Peguero. In corresponding active roster moves, they have optioned outfielder Grant McCray and right-hander Kai-Wei Teng. Left-hander Erik Miller has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
Peguero, 28, makes it to the majors for the first time. It was a long journey. He originally signed with the Rays as an international amateur way back in 2016. Even then he was a bit on the old side, as most international amateurs sign when first eligible at 16 and have verbal deals well before that. That was Peguero’s age-19 season.
In the following decade, he spent many years with the Rays but eventually moved around to the Rockies, Nationals and Tigers without getting a major league call. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants coming into 2025.
He has thrown 42 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 5.10 earned run average. That’s obviously not a great number but it’s come in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and Peguero has a .353 batting average on balls in play and 68.3% strand rate this year, both unfortunate numbers. He is averaging close to 100 miles per hour on his two fastballs while also throwing a cutter, slider and changeup around 90 mph. That arsenal has helped him strike out 24.1% of batters faced, though also with a 12% walk rate.
The Giants have fallen to 6.5 games back of a playoff spot, so they are surely leaning towards decisions that prioritize the future over this year. They sold at the deadline and can now use the remainder of the season to get looks at some other players. They can throw Peguero out there in front of big league hitters and see how they handle his fiery stuff. If he can get outs, perhaps he can earn a role on next year’s club.
Sending Teng down to the minors opens a job in the rotation. Manager Bob Melvin tells reporters, including Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle, that Carson Whisenhunt will be coming up to start tomorrow’s game. However, Landen Roupp is also going on the injured list. It was reported yesterday that Roupp has a left knee sprain and is going on the IL.
Justin Verlander is starting today’s game, with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The Giants are off on Monday, so it’s theoretically possible that they go back to Verlander on Tuesday. They will need another starter at some point, however, as Tuesday’s game will be the first of nine in a row. Carson Seymour and Tristan Beck are currently working long relief roles and one of them could make a spot start, though the club also has a number of pitchers on optional assignment who could be recalled.
As for Miller, he landed on the 15-day IL in early July due to a mild sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. He started a rehab assignment this month but the club informed reporters this week that a recent MRI showed more inflammation and that he’ll be shut down for another two weeks. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those who relayed that update.
Miller’s 60-day count is retroactive to his initial IL placement, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in early September. However, based on the most recent information, it seems like he’ll just be finishing his shutdown period at that time. Even if he’s declared healthy at that point, he would likely need a bit of time to ramp up and go on another rehab assignment.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Giants Activate Jerar Encarnacion
The Giants activated first baseman/corner outfielder Jerar Encarnacion from the 60-day injured list before tonight’s game against San Diego. Outfielder Luis Matos was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. The move bumps the team’s 40-man roster count to 39.
Encrnacion broke a bone in his left hand when he dove for a ball in Spring Training. He underwent surgery that knocked him out for the first two months of the season. Encarnacion had entered camp with a decent path to playing time, especially against left-handed pitching. He could pick up short-side platoon reps at first base from LaMonte Wade Jr. and figured to get a lot of run as the designated hitter.
Wilmer Flores has hit for enough power to establish himself as Bob Melvin’s top choice at DH. The lefty-swinging Wade has had a terrible season at first base, though. He’ll take a .167/.271/.271 slash line into play tonight. While Wade has never been a conventionally slugging first baseman, he reached base at north of a .370 clip in each of the past two seasons. The Giants continue to give him the majority of playing time against righty pitching. Casey Schmitt has gotten some first base reps as well. He’s hitting .195 with no homers in 15 games.
Encarnacion, 27, appeared in 35 games late last season. He hit five homers while slugging .425, but it came with a .248 average and a .277 on-base mark. His only previous experience consisted of 23 games for the Marlins in 2022. Wade remains the starter tonight against San Diego right-hander Stephen Kolek. Melvin conceded that he could cede playing time rather quickly if he doesn’t get on track offensively. “It’s going to be about performance here. If (Wade) starts to take off here he might see more playing time, and if not, you might see Jerar a little bit more,” he told reporters (link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area).
In either case, this remains an area to watch as the 33-26 Giants approach deadline season. Bryce Eldridge looms in the minors, but he’s still 20 years old and has yet to play a Triple-A game. Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle wrote last week that the organization will get former top prospect Marco Luciano some first base reps in Triple-A as well. Luciano is only hitting .212/.335/.394 over 52 games with Sacramento, so he’s not an ideal option either.
Jung Hoo Lee MRI Shows No Structural Damage
March 18: Fans can seemingly breathe a sigh of relief as Lee’s MRI showed no structural damage, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He’ll resume rehabbing from his back discomfort.
March 17: Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee was scratched from Saturday’s Cactus League contest due to back discomfort, and with the issue still bothering him 48 hours later, he’ll undergo an MRI, manager Bob Melvin revealed to reporters (link via Justice Delos Santos of the San Jose Mercury News). He’ll then have a followup with the team’s medical staff. Melvin anticipates having more information for the public tomorrow.
Lee, 26, signed a six-year, $113MM contract with the Giants after a terrific start to his professional career in the Korea Baseball Organization. He played in 37 games last year in his MLB debut and hit .262/.310/.331 with a pair of homers and some of the best contact skills in the sport (8.2% strikeout rate). Lee played 306 innings in center and drew average marks from Statcast with slightly below-average grades from Defensive Runs Saved. A shoulder injury suffered when colliding with the wall in trying to haul in a deep drive off Jeimer Candelario‘s bat ended Lee’s rookie season; he suffered a dislocation and a torn labrum, necessitating surgery.
In his return to the Giants’ lineup this spring, the former KBO standout has looked excellent. He’s appeared in a dozen games and tallied 35 plate appearances with a .300/.400/.567 slash. Lee has homered twice and drawn four walks (11.4%).
Time will tell whether the issue proves serious enough for a trip to the injured list. The Giants initially indicated that Lee was going to miss a game or two not because of a back injury suffered during a game but rather sleeping on it in awkward fashion. Sending him for an MRI would suggest there’s something potentially more worrisome at play.
If Lee does need to miss any time, the Giants have options in center. Luis Matos and Grant McCray are both plenty capable at the position. Matos, 23, is a former top prospect who’s capable of playing all three outfield spots. He logged 19 games in center for the Giants last year. McCray played 37 games in center during his rookie season in 2024. Both young outfielders struggled greatly against big league pitching, but both have had strong performances this spring. McCray is hitting .314/.429/.514 with a homer and four steals in 42 plate appearances. Matos is batting .362/.375/.532 with a pair of homers in 48 plate appearances. Whoever lines up in center field will be flanked by left fielder Heliot Ramos and right fielder Mike Yastrzemski.
Giants Reinstate Robbie Ray, Option Luis Matos
Robbie Ray is officially back from the injured list. San Francisco reinstated the southpaw from the 60-day IL to take the ball tonight against the Dodgers. The Giants also added recent waiver claim Derek Hill to their active roster. San Francisco optioned Luis Matos and Randy Rodriguez to Triple-A Sacramento in corresponding moves. To open a spot on the 40-man roster for Ray, the Giants moved Keaton Winn to the 60-day IL.
Ray makes his team debut after being acquired from the Mariners over the winter. Seattle and San Francisco lined up on an out of nowhere swap of veterans on big contracts. The Giants shipped Anthony DeSclafani and Mitch Haniger to Seattle to take a flier on Ray, who was about halfway through his rehab from last May’s Tommy John procedure. The M’s flipped DeSclafani to the Twins, with whom he suffered a Spring Training injury and underwent season-ending surgery. Haniger has underperformed for a second straight year.
The Giants hope their end of the deal yields better results. Ray is more than 14 months removed from his most recent MLB pitch. He’s one of the higher-upside pitchers in baseball when healthy. He won the American League Cy Young award when he turned in a 2.84 ERA with an MLB-best 248 strikeouts for the Blue Jays in 2021. That led the Mariners to sign him to a five-year free agent pact. Ray posted good but not elite numbers in year one, working to a 3.71 earned run average through 189 innings. He made all of one start last season before suffering the injury that sent him under the knife.
If the Giants get even the ’22 version of Ray, that’d be a major boost to their rotation. He joins last year’s Cy Young winner Blake Snell as high-risk, high-reward lefties. Logan Webb is one of the game’s best starters, while Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks round out the group. Harrison has a 3.86 ERA over 17 starts in his first full MLB season. Hicks started the season very well but has seemingly shown signs of fatigue lately in his first extended look out of the rotation.
Winn was also part of the rotation early in the season. The ground-ball specialist took the ball 12 times but struggled to a 7.16 ERA across 55 1/3 frames. He has been out for about a month with elbow inflammation. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reported earlier this week that Winn is still feeling soreness and has been shut down from throwing (X link). He’s eligible to return at the end of August, but it now seems in doubt if he’ll make it back this season.
On the position player side, Hill steps into the outfield at Matos’ expense. They’re each righty hitters with the ability to play all three positions. Matos has struggled to a .217/.238/.333 slash over 40 games. He’s also had some defensive lapses that’ll lead the Giants to send him back to Triple-A. Matos is only 22 and rates as one of the better prospects in the system. He owns a .295/.358/.536 slash over 76 career Triple-A games.