RADIO
Brice Matthews to Play Some Left Field on Saturday
Houston Astros second baseman Brice Matthews "will get some run in left field" during Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the New York Mets, manager Joe Espada told Chandler Rome of The Athletic. It's a very interesting development since Matthews has almost exclusively played the infield since being selected in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft. He has just 64.2 total innings in center field (all in the minors) and has never played a professional inning in left field. Matthews went just 7-for-42 in the majors last year and had 118 wRC+ in Triple-A, so it's unclear whether this introduction to a new position is the Astros' way of getting his bat into the lineup or just an effort to increase his defensive versatility. You could also argue that we shouldn't read too much into one spring training lineup, so it'll be important to see if Matthews playing the outfield becomes a trend or is just a one-time occurrence.
Source: Chandler Rome
Source: Chandler Rome
