Power surge puts Norwin grad JJ Matijevic on doorstep of major leagues

Left, right, center. Doesn’t matter.

JJ Matijevic can spray the baseball all over the park — and deep into the bleachers — with some of the best middle-order hitters in the minor leagues.

But the Norwin graduate wants to prove he can hit home runs in the majors, too.

He could be making inroads to the bigs with each powerful swat, each majestic shot as he chases down a dream.

Since a June promotion, Matijevic has been swinging a hot bat for the Sugar Land Skeeters, the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. And that is the idea for players like Matijevic: get there and produce right away.

The 25-year-old knows he is one phone call, one transaction, one spin of the wheel away from reaching the holy grail: playing at the game’s premium level.

“I feel like I am living the dream being able to play baseball every day,” he said. “I have no idea how close I am (to the majors). I just go out and play.”

Bumped up June 17 from the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, Matijevic has become a fixture in the Skeeters lineup, playing first base, designated hitter or left field.

A second-round pick of the Astros in 2017 out of Arizona, he launched a three-run homer to right in his first Triple-A at-bat June 18, a sign of things to come and an “I belong here” type of moment.

He proceeded to belt six more homers across his next 28 games, giving him 16 homers and 43 RBIs this season with the two teams.

Matijevic doesn’t just tattoo baseballs. He has numerous marks of body ink, including one on his chest that memorializes his late grandfather. His pap would be proud of the home runs, no doubt. But Matijevic wants to be known for more. And he wants to raise his batting average.

“I have always been known as a home run hitter,” he said. “Power has always sort of been at the top of my list. But I want to improve my hitting all around. I want to keep growing and continue to do better. There are a great group of guys in Triple-A. My hitting coach (Ben Rosenthal) here was my hitting coach in high-A (ball).”

A Pittsburgh kid who looked rather comfortable in a cowboy hat in a team photo, Matijevic was batting .242 for the season through midweek.

“I want to become a better defensive player, too,” Matijevic said. “That is something I have really been working on. I don’t want to just be known as a hitter.”

But he has strengthened that stereotype, almost with each game. He hit a grand slam Tuesday night against the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres), but the game was suspended by rain in the fourth inning with Sugar Land up 7-1. The game has to become official for the grand slam to go into the books.

With the Skeeters, he had a .226 average with seven homers and 16 RBIs.

Matijevic broke up a recent no-hit bid against the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies) when he launched an opposite field solo shot in a 7-5 win. While visiting the Oklahoma City Dodgers, he took a “tour around the pillows,” as the Skeeters put it, twice, in an 8-3 victory.

Matijevic came to Triple-A after hitting .275 with nine homers and 27 RBIs over 31 games for the Hooks.

He said the jump from Single-A to Double-A was significant in terms of the pitching and adjustments at the plate.

“The pitching isn’t that different. It’s just that the pitchers know how to pitch to you,” he said. “They know how to attack your weak spots.”

The climb up the minor league ranks has come with setbacks, and the sweet-swinging lefty even fell off the ladder.

It toughened him. Opened his eyes. Hardened his armor.

In 2019, he was dealt a 50-game suspension for violating MLB’s Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program following a second positive test for a drug of abuse.

Humbled, he went off the grid for a while.

But he came back with a vengeance, popping four homers and driving in seven in his first half-dozen games with the Hooks. He was a dinged-up sports car that quickly merged back into the fast lane.

“It’s not something I like to talk about much because it’s in the past,” he said. “But I can tell you I missed the game — a lot.”

Through 296 games in his minor league career, Matijevic had a .253 average with 56 home runs and 173 RBIs.

JJ MATIJEVIC OPPO TACO TUESDAY GRAND SLAM LET'S GOOOOOOO??? pic.twitter.com/xnlIn0gw2m

— Sugar Land Skeeters (@SL_Skeeters) August 4, 2021

JJ Matijevic takes a tour around the pillows! pic.twitter.com/toaHLoEjlN

— Sugar Land Skeeters (@SL_Skeeters) July 28, 2021

No-hitter ... gone
Lead ... gone
JJ ... on

That's No. 5 for Matijevic since joining the Skeeters and No. 13 overall this season! pic.twitter.com/REgBchPJdL

— Sugar Land Skeeters (@SL_Skeeters) July 20, 2021

JJ brought his boomstick to the yard tonight! pic.twitter.com/fcnkO5lhsO

— Sugar Land Skeeters (@SL_Skeeters) July 13, 2021