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Matthews re-aggravated a previous left knee injury while making a sliding catch during Tuesday’s game against the Mariners. He’s done for the rest of the regular season and won’t be able to return until the AL Division Series, if the Astros manage to get that far.

Matthews is back in Houston’s outfield equation after missing roughly two months recovering from a left knee sprain. The 24-year-old former first-round pick was hitting .197/.250/.332 with seven homers and four steals in 226 plate appearances prior to the injury.

Matthews has been sidelined since suffering a left knee sprain just before the All-Star break. He has finally made tangible strides in his recovery though and should only need a weekend’s worth of games in the minor leagues before he’s an option to rejoin the Astros.

Astros GM Dana Brown said a couple of weeks ago that Matthews could return in mid-to-late August, but something changed there. This rules him out until Sept. 12 with the knee injury he suffered in the final game before the All-Star break.

Matthews suffered the injury during Sunday’s first half finale against the Rangers. No word yet from the Astros on how long they anticipate him being shelved for. Lucas Spence was promoted from Triple-A Sugar Land to take his place on the Astros’ active roster.

Matthews hurt the knee when he hit the wall while attempting to make a catch early in the contest. The 24-year-old will likely undergo testing, and the Astros will have the All-Star break to determine whether Matthews needs a trip to the injured list.

Matthews made things interesting with a three-run shot against Nationals reliever Cole Henry in the eighth inning that brought Houston within a single run at the time. It was his seventh big fly of the year and first time going deep since June 13.

The 24-year-old Matthews had spent a lot of time in centerfield for the Astros this season, but after Jose Altuve got hurt, he started at second base twice over the weekend. Then, Jeremy Pena was activated from the injured list on Monday, and Matthews started in center field. Yet, the Astros then activated Jake Meyers from the injured list on Tuesday, and Matthews headed to the bench. With Meyers, Cam Smith, Zach Cole, and Zach Dezenzo all in the outfield, it seems like Matthews has entered a timeshare at second base with Braden Shewmake. Matthews has plus raw tools, but he also has a .207 average and 31.5 percent strikeout rate in 127 plate appearances this season, so it’s hard to see him as a reliable fantasy contributor.

Matthews singled twice last night, but those are his only hits over 23 at-bats in his last six games. He also hasn’t drawn a walk since May 4, leaving him at .196/.252/.373 for the season. With Jake Meyers on a rehab assignment, Matthews could be looking at a return to Triple-A next week.

José Altuve is getting a day off today, and Carlos Correa is out with an ankle injury, so Matthews will take the top spot in the order. It’s a strong vote of confidence for the former top prospect, who is 9- for-47 over his last two weeks with two home runs and one steal. Matthews is unlikely to sport a high batting average, but he does have intriguing power and speed if he continues to play regularly in Houston.

Matthews put three on the board and probably kept a couple off it with a fantastic jumping catch against the center field wall to rob Willson Contreras of a double in the fourth. A week ago, it seemed like a given that Matthews would head back to Triple-A once the Astros got healthier. However, he’s gone 9-for-21 with two homers and six RBI in his last five games, raising his OPS from .497 to .725.

That’s an awfully bad game for someone who didn’t even have an at-bat. Matthews was inserted in place of Isaac Paredes after Paredes had a game-tying two-run single in the eighth and was immediately caught off first base. In the 10th, he bobbled a very routine grounder from Jordan Walker to start a rally after Alec Burleson had been retired for the first out. Matthews is also 3-for-28 with 16 strikeouts at the plate this year, and he’d seem to be in line to be demoted when Jeremy Peña comes off the IL.

That’s the good news for Matthews. The bad is that Jeremy Peña came back from his finger injury and homered in the game. If Peña is on the Opening Day roster, that’ll probably take away Matthews’ spot, since even though he might be worth keeping as a speedy option off the bench, the team is going to want him getting regular playing time.

Brown added that the club still views Matthews as a second baseman primarily, but he’ll get some time in the outfield moving forward after hitting .167 (7-for-42) with four homers and one steal during a brief 13-game late-season cameo with the Astros. The 23-year-old former first-round pick will increase his defensive versatility to battle for a bench role with the Astros in camp. He’s shown some flashes of power/speed combo upside, which makes him interesting from a fantasy perspective, but an inflated 27.9 percent strikeout rate across 498 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this past season suggests that he’ll battle some serious contact issues at the highest level.

Matthews had been playing center field at Triple-A Sugar Land since his last demotion and with Jake Meyers (calf) heading to the injured list on Saturday he may get an opportunity to play in the outfield at the big league level. The 23-year-old has hit .143/.211/.400 with three homers and eight RBI in 40 plate appearances with the Astros this season.

Matthews also started this game in centerfield and has now played six games in centerfield at Triple-A. It’s the first time in his minor league career that he has played the outfield. With Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa both under contract for 2026, and Jose Altuve battling a foot injury that has made it hard for him to play the outfield, the Astros may be seeing if a move to center field could give Matthews a better chance to crack the starting lineup in 2026. His only competition right now would be Jake Meyers and Chas McCormick, so it’s a decent possibility.