Norwin grad JJ Matijevic gets call up to major leagues with Astros

JJ Matijevic’s ascent through the minor leagues hit the ceiling Wednesday when he was called up to join the Houston Astros.

For the first time, he is a major leaguer — at least for now.

The Astros brought him up to replace infielder Jose Altuve, who is on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain. The team put first baseman Taylor Jones on the 60-day IL to make room for Matijevic on the 40-man roster.

The Astros hosted the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.

1B/OF JJ Matijevic on his parents reaction when he got called up for the 1st time in his career:“My mom cried. My dad was so excited. My dad was working late.He’s a firefighter. So he was on call.He didn’t really know what to say. My mom,it’s a really special moment for me & her” pic.twitter.com/MktFrSvXuv

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) April 20, 2022

Known for his towering home runs, Matijevic has been on a tear with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, and the big club took notice.

The Norwin product, who has played first base and outfield in Triple-A this season, had four homers in his first nine games. He became a trivia question when he clubbed the first homer in Cowboys history on April 5.

Matijevic was hitting .310/.420/.715 with 13 hits, 10 RBIs and nine runs.

A fan favorite in Texas, Matijevic even had his own T-shirt giveaway Saturday. The first 2,000 fans received a Matijevic “Grip It X Flip It” shirt with a picture of the slugger flipping his bat after one of his deep drives.

Matijevic, 26, was promoted from Double-A last season. He has been playing in the minors since 2017 when Houston took him with the 75th pick in the second round of the draft out of Arizona.

In 358 career minor-league games, he has slashed .257/.333/.489 and has 69 homers and 215 RBIs.