MILWAUKEE -- Luis Matos joined the Brewers on Tuesday afternoon and was happy to see a familiar face. He was 13 or 14 years old when he first met Jackson Chourio, another right-handed hitting outfielder whose surprise move to the injured list on Opening Day is what led the Brewers to trade for Matos this week.
Acquired from the Giants in exchange for cash on Monday afternoon, Matos was raised in Bobures, Venezuela, on the other end of Lake Maracaibo from where Chourio was born in the city of Maracaibo.
“We grew up close,” Matos said, “so I’ve known him since before we both signed.”
Matos is two years Chourio’s senior. He signed with the Giants in 2018 and was in the Majors by June 2023 as a 21-year-old. Since then, he has put together a .231/.281/.369 slash line in 178 career games over three Major League seasons, with a negative Baseball-Reference WAR each year. But he’s still just 24 years old, was a Top 100 prospect as recently as the start of 2022, and has raked at American Family Field in a small sample, going 6-for-11 with a double, two homers and two stolen bases. In six career games against the Brewers, he has a 1.255 OPS.
Plus, the Brewers had a major void after seeing key right-handed hitters Chourio and Andrew Vaughn hit the injured list during the season’s opening series.
“I’m excited for this new opportunity,” Matos said. “I know this is a great team – and a young team.”
With a couple of familiar faces. Matos has come to know a number of the Brewers’ players from Venezuela, who include World Baseball Classic teammates Chourio, William Contreras and Angel Zerpa.
“It matters because there’s a familiarity here,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He can feel more comfortable, rely on somebody, especially a great kid like Chourio. He can tell [Matos] how it goes.”
What has he learned in the last three years that he wishes he’d known at the start?
“Here in the big leagues, you learn something new every single day,” Matos said. “Myself, I’m the type of person who likes to learn. I like to ask a lot of questions. I like to ask questions to the veteran guys around.
“Ever since I’ve been young and in the big leagues, it’s been a lot of learning for me, so I don’t know if I have one thing that I can pinpoint that I wish I had known earlier. There’s a lot to learn up here.”
Matos became available when the Giants designated him for assignment on the day before Opening Day. He arrived in Milwaukee in time for Tuesday’s game against the Rays but didn’t start, since he hasn’t played in a game in 10 days.
The Brewers DFA’d left-handed pitcher Sammy Peralta in a corresponding move for the 40-man roster on Monday, then cleared space on the active, 26-man roster by optioning catching prospect Jeferson Quero back to Triple-A Nashville so he can play every day.
Chourio was placed on the IL on Opening Day due to a left hand fracture that he sustained after being hit by a pitch on March 4, and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks. Vaughn followed Chourio to the injured list when he broke the hamate bone in his left hand on Opening Day. He was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday in Milwaukee and will be sidelined 4-6 weeks.
Matos played in 57 games last season with San Francisco, hitting eight homers in 172 at-bats. He put together a .221/.266/.424 slash line.
He’s the latest of several former Top 100 prospects who found themselves slogging in the Majors before a move to Milwaukee, similar to the situations right-hander Quinn Priester and Vaughn found themselves in last season.
“Not everybody hits their ground running,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said. “We’ve seen that with so many players. There are ingredients to like, and we want to give him a shot. We’re the land of opportunity.”