PHOENIX — Jose Altuve has seen many prospects come through Houston in his 15 seasons in the Major Leagues, including future stars in Carlos Correa, George Springer, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker. Those players, and more, made their impact and left to play elsewhere, leaving Altuve with a front-row seat for the next wave of Astros prospects on the come.
When asked about top prospect Brice Matthews’ contributions in the first two games of the series against the D-backs at Chase Field, which included two homers in Monday’s win and a late two-run homer in the Astros’ 3-1 win on Tuesday, the 35-year-old Altuve sat inside his locker and smiled like a proud father.
“I’m getting older and older, and younger and younger guys come here and they execute and play good,” he said. “I love it. I love to be here watching those guys play and contribute to this team.”
Matthews, who swatted his first two career home runs and drove in five of Houston’s six runs on Monday, rescued the Astros again Tuesday with his eighth-inning homer off D-backs reliever Jake Woodford, which put Houston ahead, 2-1. Arizona loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Matthews began a terrific 4-6-3 double play that ended the game.
“This is his sixth game [of his career] and he comes and makes that big play and has big swings,” said Altuve, who scored on a wild pitch in the ninth. “That tells us a lot about the player he is and what he’s looking for those situations. He seems like he wants to be in that situation. We’re looking forward to watching him hit more homers and make more plays.”
At his locker after the game, Matthews faced reporters and cameras for the second night in a row and could only smile in disbelief at events of the previous 48 hours. He reminded them it’s no accident.
“Each and every day, we go out there and we put the work in and it’s nonstop,” he said. “I’m just glad I was able to make the play.”
So was reliever Bryan King, who handled the ninth because All-Star closer Josh Hader’s workload made him unavailable. King allowed three consecutive singles to start the inning before striking out Blaze Alexander. He then got Jose Herrera to hit a sharp grounder to Matthews’ left, and he went to a knee for a backhanded stop. Matthews spun and threw to second base to Zack Short, who relayed to first to end the game. The Houston dugout erupted.
“He’s got a really good first-step reaction and the range,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of Matthews. “He’s starting to show athleticism and he’s got the ability to finish those plays. That’s a big play to win a Major League game. You want the ball hit to you. You get the ball, it’s a tough feed. Short tuning the double play. Just all around really good baseball.”
For King, who earned his first career save, he believed Matthews had a good chance to get Marte’s ball and turn two.
“He made an outstanding play,” he said. “The kid’s playing really good ball right now and it’s fun to watch. It’s fun to be a part of. Once we got [the relay] to second base, I said, ‘There’s a shot.’”
Matthews was called up from Triple-A Sugar Land on July 11 — one day before he was scheduled to play in the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta — when outfielder Jake Meyers was placed on the IL with a calf strain. He was Houston’s first-round pick out of Nebraska in 2023 as a shortstop, but played winter ball in Puerto Rico last year to help make the transition to second base.
“It was a lot of work,” Matthews said. “Sunny, hot days in Puerto Rico, but to see all the hard work paying off is fun. I’m still working to try to get better every day.”
Astros starter Framber Valdez (11-3) won his 10th consecutive decision by holding Arizona to one run and seven hits in seven innings. The Astros have won 13 consecutive games started by Valdez since May 7. Matthews is just glad to be a part of it.
“This brotherhood, they’re so great,” he said. “Like I said, I can’t be more grateful for this group of guys.”
