Brice Matthews, the University of Nebraska shortstop the Astros selected with the final pick (28th overall) of the first round of the MLB Draft in July, completed his debut pro season, most of which was spent playing for the Low-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers. Matthews, the Astros' No. 4-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, slashed .208/.365/.352 (.717 OPS) with four homers, 11 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 35 games in his professional debut, 33 of which were spent at Fayetteville. He finished the season on a good note, going 2-for-4 with a homer on Sunday. He had multiple hits in three of his last six games and 10 games for the season. "I think it was a great experience," Matthews said. "It was a lot of fun being with the guys and just playing baseball again. It was really fun to see how I stacked up against everybody else and being able to compete again." Matthews, a former star high school quarterback at Atascocita High School in suburban Houston, is a 6-foot, 190-pound right-handed hitter who blossomed into a serious prospect in his junior year at Nebraska, hitting .359/.481/.723 with 67 RBIs and 61 runs scored to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors. He became the first player in Nebraska history to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in a season. Matthews said getting his feet wet in professional baseball was an eye-opening experience, which came with many adjustments along the way. He said his focus was simply to improve each day, which he felt that he did. Play hard, and let the results take care of themselves, he said. "I still feel like I competed really well, but there was a lot more movement on the fastball than there was in college," Matthews said. "I think that was the biggest thing." | Defensively, Matthews spent the season at shortstop, the position he played at Nebraska. That also came with some adjustments. "I felt a lot more comfortable out there, just being able to be an athlete," Matthews said. "That was the main thing we talked about every day -- just be an athlete and just maximize that, and I feel like I was doing that really well." Matthews, who signed for a bonus of $2,478,200, which was below the slot value of $2,880,700 for the No. 28 overall pick, will next head to strength camp in West Palm Beach, Fla., and rest up in the winter following a whirlwind 2023 summer. He's likely to begin next season at High-A, with a chance to reach Double-A sometime in '24. "It's been great," Matthews said. "It's been a great experience. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I'm a firm believer in that everything happens for a reason. Just wherever life takes me, I'm ready for it. Flow with the wind." |
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Triple-A Sugar Land • Shortstop Shay Whitcomb, the team's No. 25-ranked prospect, entered the weekend tied with Hunter Goodman (Rockies) and Yunior Severino (Twins) for the Minor League lead with 34 home runs. He hit a two-run homer Tuesday, giving him 22 with the Space Cowboys and 12 with Double-A Corpus Christi. The player who leads the Minors in home runs each year is given the Joe Bauman Award. His 34 home runs are the most home runs for an Astros' Minor Leaguer since Kyle Tucker hit 34 in 2019 with Round Rock, and Whitcomb has a chance to match or surpass George Springer's 37 home runs in '13 -- the most home runs in a season by an Astros' Minor Leaguer since '03. He needs two RBIs to reach 100. • Right-hander Ronel Blanco struck out a career-high 12 batters in six innings on Tuesday, setting a Space Cowboys record. |
Double-A Corpus Christi • Outfielder Jacob Melton, the Astros' No. 1-ranked prospect, is finishing the season strong. He had homered in five of his past six games entering Friday, giving him 23 homers combined this year between High-A Asheville and the Hooks. He's hitting .423 (11-for-26) with 12 RBIs in his past six games and leads Houston Minor Leaguers in runs (82) and steals (45). |
High-A Asheville • Asheville finished its season with a 51-76 record, including 25-41 in the second half. Thirty of the Tourists' 51 wins came by one or two runs. • Tim Borden II, a 16th-round pick last year out of Georgia Tech, led the Tourists in batting average among qualified players with a .245 mark. He also led the team in hits (89), was second in RBIs (49) and led the South Atlantic League in hit by pitches (22). His .354 on-base percentage was 16th in the league and his 66 walks were third-most. • Catcher Ryan Wrobleski, a 20th-round pick last year from Dallas Baptist, led the team with 56 RBIs, which tied for the 16th most in the SAL, and he was second in doubles (18) and tied for first in multihit games (21). |
Low-A Fayetteville • The Woodpeckers went 60-72 in the Carolina League South Division, going 30-36 in each half of the season. • Right-fielder Cam Fisher bashed four homers in his last six games, giving him five on the season. Thirteen of his final 30 hits went for extra bases and he hit .314 with seven runs scored and a 1.129 OPS in nine September games. A fourth-round pick this year out of Charlotte, Fisher slashed .273/.396/.500 in 31 games for the Woodpeckers. |
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