Matthews Shows Power Surge at Class-A

A left-handed, power-hitting bat to complement Shawn Green’s might be only about 60 miles away for the Dodgers. Lamont Matthews, who turns 22 on Thursday, has been eating up California League pitchers lately.

Matthews, a 10th-round draft choice last year from Oklahoma State, batted .379 with four homers and 11 runs batted in during a recent week-long stretch for Class-A San Bernardino. The hot streak raised his average 30 points to .273 and helped move the Stampede within a game of first-place Lancaster in the California League’s Southern Division.

Matthews, 6 feet 2 and 215 pounds, hit .384 with 30 home runs for Oklahoma State after transferring from Kiswaukee College in Malta, Ill., where he was the Division II junior college player of the year in 1998.

Last year at Yakima, Matthews hit only .225 but tied for the Northwest League lead with 17 home runs--the most hit by a Dodger organization rookie since Steve Garvey hit 20 for Ogden in 1968.

As is often the case, with the home runs come strikeouts. Through the end of May, Matthews led the league with 71 strikeouts.

San Antonio pitchers Luke Prokopec and Adrian Burnside and catcher Geronimo Gil were named to the Texas League All-Star team that will play the Mexican League All-Stars in a two-game series in El Paso, Texas, and Monterrey, Mexico, June 18 and 20.