Astros Giving Young Prospect Unusual Opportunity in Spring Training

The Houston Astros are trying to find creative ways to get one of their star prospects into the game.

Houston Astros spring training cap and glove. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Experiments happen in spring training every year. Just ask Jose Altuve.

The Houston Astros moved him to left field in spring training to keep Altuve’s bat in the lineup and improve their defense at second base, where Altuve’s glove is in decline. It didn’t exactly help. This time around Altuve is working primarily at second base. He may cameo in left field but he’s back where he belongs.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Now, the Astros are attempting a similar experience with another infielder, only this one is much younger.

Per Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X (formerly Twitter), the Astros are giving top prospect and infielder Brice Matthews a spin in left field in Saturday’s spring training game.

Brice Matthews, Left Fielder?

Houston Astros second baseman Brice Matthews. | William Liang-Imagn Images

It’s an interesting opportunity for Matthews. A look at his player log at baseball-reference.com shows that he played nine games in center field last season at Triple-A Sugar Land. The rest of his games have been at either shortstop or third base.

This spring Matthews has batted .222/.323/.296 with no home runs and seven RBI. Houston has several options for left field, and this could be nothing more than a chance to see how Matthews handles himself in the outfield with the MLB coaching staff in attendance. He played in 14 MLB games last season and played all but one at second base.

Or, it’s possible the Astros are not happy with their left field options and want to see if Matthews can help them there. The team’s depth chart lists Altuve, Joey Loperfido, Yordan Alvarez, Taylor Trammell, Zach Dezenzo and Zach Cole as options in left field. Of that group, only Alvarez is guaranteed a job. But Houston would like to use him at designated hitter as much as possible as his bat is vital to the team’s success.

Houston also has a significant logjam among its infielders. Even if Matthews was good enough to be a starter at one of the infield positions, there is too much Major League talent for him to get a spot. Nick Allen is expected to be the utility infielder. Houston is likely looking for a bench spot that can play infield and outfield. There’s potential for Matthews to fit there — but not much time to prove it. Opening day is on March 26 against the Los Angeles Angels.

In the Majors last season, he slashed .167/.222/.452. But, in just 42 at-bats he hit four home runs and drove in nine RBI. He didn’t have a double or a triple, which kept his slugging percentage down. But he showed there was power in the bat, something he showed at Triple-A Sugar Land all season.

In 112 games with the Space Cowboys, he slashed .260/.371/.458 with 17 home runs and 64 RBI. It was his first full season with the Astros’ top affiliate and that performance earned him the promotion on July 11.