Brice Andre Matthews (born March 16, 2002) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB).

Amateur career

Matthews attended

Atascocita High School Atascocita High School is a secondary school located in Atascocita CDP, a community housed in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States. AHS is a part of Humble Independent School District and serves the eastern part of the district a ...

Humble, Texas Humble ( ) is a city located in the Greater Houston, Houston metropolitan area. Humble became an Boomtown, oil boomtown in the early 20th century when oil was first discovered there in 1904. By 1905, the Humble oilfield was the largest producing ...

. As a junior in 2019, he hit .426 with four home runs. He went unselected in the

2020 Major League Baseball draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

, and enrolled at the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

. As a freshman at Nebraska in 2021, Matthews started 36 games and hit .273 with five home runs and 34 RBIs. As a sophomore in 2022, he hit .261 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs over 45 games. During the summers of 2021 and 2022, he played in the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not ...

for the St. Cloud Rox. As a junior in 2023, Matthews hit .359 with twenty home runs and 67 RBIs over 54 games.

Professional career

The

selected Matthews in the first round, with the 28th overall pick, in the

2023 Major League Baseball draft The 2023 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 9–11, 2023, in Seattle. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. For the first time, a draft lottery was used to set a portion of the draft order. The first six selections ...

. On July 15, 2023, Matthews signed with the Astros for $2.4 million. Matthews made his professional debut with the

Florida Complex League Astros The Florida Complex League Astros are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Houston Astros, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Astros. The team plays it ...

and, after two games, was then assigned to the

Fayetteville Woodpeckers The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...

. Over 35 games between the two teams, Matthew hit .208 with four home runs and 11 RBI. Matthews was assigned to the

Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. It is located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in different ...

to begin 2024 and was promoted to the

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned b ...

and

Sugar Land Space Cowboys The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metro ...

during the season. He missed time during the season due to back spasms. In total for the 2024 season, Matthews played in 79 games, batting .265 with 15 home runs, 44 RBI, and 32 stolen bases. The Astros assigned Matthews to Sugar Land to open the 2025 season. On May 10, 2025, Matthews

hit for the cycle Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, the first of his career in professional baseball. He led a 12–7 win over the

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team that plays in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. Based in South Jordan, Utah, the team plays its home games at The Ballpark at Am ...

and the cycle was the second in Space Cowboys franchise history. He was selected to represent the Astros (alongside Alimber Santa) at the 2025

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

Truist Park Truist Park is a baseball stadium in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. Opened in 2017, it is the ballpark of ...

. On July 11, 2025, the Astros selected Matthews' contract and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time. At the time of his promotion, he was batting .283 with ten home runs, 39 RBI, and 25 stolen bases over 73 games with Sugar Land. Matthews made his MLB debut that night as the club's starting second baseman versus the Texas Rangers at

Daikin Park Daikin Park (originally Enron Field and formerly Astros Field and Minute Maid Park) is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 and is the home ballpark of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). ...

; he went 0-for-4 with three

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s.https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/45718566/astros-call-top-prospect-brice-matthews-mlb-debut Brice hit his first career homer on July 21, 2025, vs Zac Gallen and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Brice 2002 births Living people African-American baseball players Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Houston Corpus Christi Hooks players Fayetteville Woodpeckers players Florida Complex League Astros players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball infielders Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players Senadores de San Juan players St. Cloud Rox players Sugar Land Space Cowboys players 21st-century American sportsmen