I got this J.J. Matijevic autograph back in 2016 while the University of Arizona was playing here in Hawaii. My notes at the time:
This weekend Arizona is visiting Hawaii…and the series is not going well for Hawaii.
There are a couple Arizona players that have really impressed me on the Wildcat squad, with J.J. Matijevic being near the top of the list. In the first game he went 2-5 with a walk and HR…and the HR was legit. Not a wall scraper. Overall, he has very strong numbers on the season, with a .338 AVG and .395 OBP.
I am not the only one that thinks highly of him. Boston selected in the 22nd round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft with the 674th overall pick, but he declined and went to Arizona. It looks like it was a very smart move: Baseball America rated him the #7 prospect in the conference for the 2017 draft, and also one of the Cape Cod leagues Top 20 prospects after his fantastic 2015 campaign there. Perfect Game also had him on their 2017 draft list, noting his “outstanding pop and bat speed”.
I have a feeling that in 2017 he will be going in the first couple rounds.
Matijevic would be drafted the next season in the supplemental 1st round by the Houston Astros.
He has moved steadily through the Houston system, and this season cracked High-A ball. He had a fine campaign there, hitting .266/.335/.513 with 19 HR. He was selected to his second All-Star team.
He will be 24 next season and he is trending towards being slightly old for the leagues that he is in. But if he continues to hit as he did in 2018 in High-A or AA he should move quickly and become something that the Astro’s can use–either in the field or as a trade chip.