SF Giants prospect Luis Matos wins Defensive Player of the Year award at AFL

While it's been a rough year at the plate for SF Giants prospect Luis Matos, his defensive prowess was honored at the Arizona Fall League.

Several prospects in the SF Giants farm system have been playing at the Arizona Fall League over the past couple of months. With the season coming to an end, MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo wrote up the Arizona Fall League season's awards on Saturday. Giants prospect center fielder Luis Matos was named the Defensive Player of the Year.

SF Giants top prospect Luis Matos runs the bases. (2022)

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

"While the Giants’ No. 3 prospect still has things to prove at the plate, there are no questions about his ability to roam the outfield," Mayo wrote. "His reads and routes have improved, and he showed all fall with Scottsdale that his speed and instincts will work very well in center field, where he played errorless baseball and used his solid arm to pick up a pair of assists."

Matos emerged as a consensus top-100 prospect after the 2021 season when he hit .313/.359/.495 at Single-A San Jose as a 19-year-old. However, this season, facing more advanced competition at High-A Eugene, Matos' free-swinging approach led to a massive dip in his production at the plate. He posted a .211/.275/.344 triple-slash across 407 plate appearances at Eugene.

Arizona Fall League competition includes players from the upper minors. Generally, it's considered between High-A and Double-A in terms of competition.

Matos got off to a hot start at the Arizona Fall League, but pitchers slowly began taking advantage of his aggressive approach. In 22 games (93 plate appearances), Matos hit .233/.280/.361 with two home runs.

The Giants will face a difficult decision with Matos this offseason. He is eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft by another team this offseason unless the Giants add him to their 40-man roster.

A team would have to be willing to keep Matos on a big-league roster for the entirety of the 2023 season. However, given his offensive struggles that would seem unlikely on the surface, but his advanced defensive ability in center makes it easier to stash him as a glove-first fifth outfielder. With incredible upside, it's hard to imagine Matos going unpicked if he's unprotected by the Giants.

Regardless of the Rule 5 draft, SF Giants prospect Luis Matos can hang his hat on being named the 2022 Arizona Fall League Defensive Player of the Year.