Astros' Matthews Crushes Homer, Earns Roster Spot

0:00On April 1st, Astroskipper Joe Aspada is mixing it up in left and center field during the first six games, batoning young guns, Joey Loper-Fito, and Bryce Matthews based on pitcher matchups. Loper-Fito, a lefty swinger, starts against right handers two in left, one in center. Matthews, batting right, handles lefty starters the same way. Meanwhile, Cam Smith locks down right field every night, with Jake Myers and Jordan Alvarez filling other spots. This set up plays to the team's love for position switches. Loper-Fito covers all outfield spots and crushes varieties off the bench. Matthews flips to second or shortstop easy, like in spring, and both bring speed for late game runs. It's all about versatility in a stacked roster. Aspada says, young players got to earn their shot, just like Kyle Tucker did behind vets back in the day. Matthews shifted from shortstop his draft spot to Alfield last year in Tribal A to crack the bigs, with Houston's infield jammed.

1:02The local kid, their number four prospect, earned his opening day nod with a hot spring. Monday, Matthews crushed a 434-foot bomb off the Red Sox, his longest ever hardest hit by any astro this year. It landed way up on the porch, plus Zach Cole, who he beat for the roster spot, broke his toe in Tribal A, so he's rehabbing in Florida. Matthews' gig looks safe. Aspada called it big time power from the 5-foot-10 infielder type. Matthews is tweaking his swing for better contact, blending with the vets and loving the team vibe. He's slowing his nerves, building on that homer, and keeping the good times rolling in Houston. Stay tuned with MLB News Today, AI-powered updates.