There R Giants #2: Luis Matos

Photo Credit: Michelle Valenzuela | San Jose Giants

We’re almost to the finish line of the There R Giants Top 50. Over the winter months, I’m writing a post on each of the fifty players in my rankings, leading us back to the much-needed spring. Our list of previously covered players is getting a little long, so from here on out I’m moving the links for the full list down the bottom of the post.

I thought about making Matos the #1 prospect in this system, I really did. That’s how much I love me some Luis Matos. The problem with that approach, I knew, was that people wouldn’t be able to read that without inferring an unintended knock against Marco Luciano, some hidden but unspoken hesitation regarding the system’s best prospect. That wasn’t my intent or desire at all — my opinion of Luciano has only grown higher over the past year. No, I just wanted to somehow signal a belief in Matos that was greater than the number 2 could signify. I even toyed with the notion of having a There R Giants’ Prospect #1b and #1a. But that seemed overly gimmicky, and — sigh, “Know Thyself” — I am, at heart, a rule follower and, thus bound by the dictates of the ordinal system.

So, #2 it is, then. Just know that when I say Luis Matos is my #2 prospect, I’m saying it in a #1 sort of way.

Where to start with a player who not only has as much talent as anybody in the system, while also leading the system in swagger? How to sum up a player who casually suggests that Ronald Acuña, Jr. is a comp to him — but that he hopes to be a better player someday? It isn’t easy to capture such a spirit, but let’s give it a try.

Dalton Johnson @DaltonJ_Johnson

Luis Matos’ bat flip game is already in mid-season form