NL West: Matos receiving regular PT in SF

San Francisco Giants

Former top Giants prospect Luis Matos is now 23-years-old and has 548 career major league AB. He has transitioned from one-time top prospect to a player who has received meaningful playing time each of the last three seasons and has yet to really produce with the Giants. Matos has split his time about evenly between AAA-Sacramento and the Giants this season and hasn’t been overly impressive at either level, hitting .260/.300/.489 with 7 HR and 6 SB in 140 PA with Sacramento and .209/.255/.450 with 7 HR and 4 SB in 137 PA with the Giants.

But with the Giants largely out of the NL Wild Card race and 1B/OF Jerar Encarnación likely out for most of the rest of the season with a grade 2 right hamstring strain, Matos is expected to get an extended look in RF over the next few weeks. He has started all five games in the OF since being recalled on August 21 and has been on fire, with 8 H, 2 BB, 2 HR, and 2 SB in just 17 PA. He makes excellent contact (82% ct% and just a 16.1% K% with the Giants in 2025) but has been the victim of some bad luck this season at the major league level. He has been victimized by just a 20% h% and his .274 xBA is 65 points above his actual AVG.  

With 25-year-old OF Heliot Ramos and 27-year-old OF Jung Hoo Lee playing every day in LF and CF, respectively, the final month of the season is a good opportunity for the Giants to see if Matos can produce with everyday playing time. RF has been a consistent source of weakness for the Giants this season, so Matos could put himself in a good spot heading into 2026 spring training with a solid performance over the next month or so.

 

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks' closer role has been in flux all season, primarily due to injuries, but currently because there is no clear single option to fill the role. The Diamondbacks have had a major league record 15 different pitchers earn saves this season. RHP Shelby Miller, who was traded to the Brewers at the trade deadline, had 10 saves with Arizona, twice as many as RHP Justin Martinez who is second on the team with five saves. Martinez, LHP A.J. Puk (4 SV), RHP Kevin Ginkel (3 SV), and RHP Ryan Thompson (1 SV) are all currently on the IL. Martinez, Puk, and Ginkel are all out for the rest of the season.

The Diamondbacks haven’t had many save opportunities recently, with RHP Jake Woodford recording the team’s last save on August 23, Andrew Saalfrank recording the previous two saves (August 19 and August 13), and Juan Morillo recording a save on August 12. In the absence of what were their top five options for the closer role, it appears as if the Diamondbacks are employing a three-man committee consisting of LHP Saalfrank, RHP Morillo, and LHP Kyle Backhus. With Thompson expected to be activated from the IL in the next week or so, he will probably join this very crowded committee. 

While we would expect a handful of relievers to receive save opportunities over the last month of the season, the left-handed Saalfrank and the right-handed Thompson could find themselves at the top of the committee ladder. Saalfrank (1.56 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 8.8% K-BB%, 2 SV, 1 BS over 17.1 IP) has outperformed his 4.20 xERA and hasn’t been able to duplicate his high minor league K% at the major league level, but is probably at the top of the committee currently. Depending on matchups, right-handers Morillo or Woodford could also get opportunities until Thompson returns. 

With the Diamondbacks playing above .500 ball since the trade deadline, they should generate a number of save opportunities over the last month of the season. Fantasy managers who are desperate for saves can certainly speculate on Saalfrank or one of the other options, and should pay attention to how manager Torey Lovullo uses Thompson when he returns from the IL. A few extra saves down the stretch can be very helpful.

 

Colorado Rockies

Rockies 3B Kyle Karros was a 5^th round pick by the Rockies in 2023 and came into the 2025 season as a relatively unknown prospect after spending the entire 2024 season at High-A Spokane. He had a good season in hitter-friendly Spokane, hitting .311/.390/.485 with 15 HR and 12 SB with a 22.8% K% and a 10.0% bb%. He started the 2025 season at AA-Hartford, where his performance (.293/.399/.462 over 233 PA) earned him a promotion to AAA-Albuquerque in mid-July. He had just 68 PA at Triple-A before being called up to the major leagues and making his debut on August 8. The Rockies decided to give him an opportunity at 3B after initially using IF Orlando Arcia and IF Kyle Farmer at 3B, after longtime 3B Ryan McMahon was traded to the Yankees prior to the trade deadline.

Since joining the Rockies, Karros has started at 3B in 15-of-18 games, although two of the games he missed were due to back spasms. With the Rockies officially eliminated from playoff contention with 30 games still to play, it looks as if Karros should get a solid opportunity to build a case for being the Rockies' starting 3B next season. He has a reputation as a solid defender at 3B, but there have been doubts about his ability to hit enough to play at 3B at the major league level. In a very small sample size, he has held his own so far, producing numbers like what he has done in his time in the minors. Over his first 58 PA with the Rockies he is hitting .300/.397/.420 with a 20.7% K% and 12.1% bb%, so he certainly has not been overmatched so far.

While it isn’t even September yet, the Rockies have officially been eliminated from playoff contention, and it is time to look ahead to 2026. Young players, such as the 23-year-old Karros, 22-year-old OF Yanquiel Fernández, 24-year-old OF Jordan Beck, 23-year-old 1B Warming Bernabel, and 22-year-old IF Adael Amador, have all seen meaningful opportunities for the Rockies this season and could be poised to start being regular contributors as soon as next season.

 

Los Angeles Dodgers

With the Dodgers locked in a very tight battle with the resurgent Padres for the NL West title, it is getting hard to ignore the season-long struggles of OF Michael Conforto at the plate, and the recent offensive and defensive challenges faced by OF Teoscar Hernández. 

Conforto has actually been worse over the month of August (.152/.227/.220 with 0 HR and a 34.8% K%) than he has been throughout the entire season. The left-handed hitter, who has generally been in a strong-side platoon in LF, has struggled more against righties than lefties, but manager Dave Roberts continues to pencil him into the lineup almost every day when a right-handed starter is on the mound. 

Hernández is having a pretty good year (.248/.279/.459 with 21 HR over 437 PA), but has not produced at the same level as in his first year with the Dodgers last season. Like Conforto, Hernández has really struggled in August, hitting .222/.224/.469 with a 30.6% K% and just a 1.2% bb%. He has also struggled in the outfield, in a couple of cases being unable to make plays that cost the Dodgers runs.

With right-handed hitting IF/OF Kiké Hernández returning from the IL, soon to be returning left-handed hitting IF/OF Hyeseong Kim reportedly seeing time in LF during his rehab assignment, IF/OF Tommy Edman trending toward an early September return from the IL, and right-handed hitting OF Alex Call able to hit both righties and lefties, we could see the Dodgers experimenting with some changes in the outfield as they battle the Padres down the stretch. Conforto could start to lose regular playing time in LF to any number of other options. We don’t anticipate that Hernández will lose his starting spot, but he could start to see more frequent days off while also losing playing time to later-inning defensive replacements.

 

San Diego Padres

Despite Padres manager Mike Shildt indicating that RHP Robert Suarez would retain his role as the Padres' closer after they acquired RHP Mason Miller at the trade deadline, there was certainly speculation that Miller could steal some saves, particularly after Suarez blew a couple of save opportunities in the month prior to the trade deadline.

The performance by Suarez (1.54 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 12 K, 2 BB with 5 SV and 1 BS) since Miller was acquired has put that speculation to rest. Miller and LHP Adrian Morejon have both recorded a save since the deadline, but in both cases, Suarez was unavailable. When he has been available, Suarez has received every save opportunity since Miller was acquired.

Miller has also been excellent since joining the Padres (1.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 18 K, 5 BB with 1 SV, 1 BS and 5 Hld over 10.0 IP) and would be ready to step into the closer role if Suarez were to be injured or run into trouble closing games. 


 

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