HOUSTON — Brice Matthews always preferred being close to home. He grew up in Humble, a Houston suburb about 20 miles from Minute Maid Park, and played at the Astros Urban Youth Academy starting at age nine. Matthews matriculated to nearby Atascocita High School, where he starred as a two-sport athlete with a simple dream to stay around Texas for college.

Baseball became Matthews’ focus over football, but his two-sport stardom meant he flew somewhat under the recruiting radar. Just two Texas schools extended scholarship offers: Sam Houston State and Prairie View A&M. In search of a bigger challenge, Matthews stepped outside of his comfort zone, leaving the state for the University of Nebraska.

“To be honest, I wasn’t as good as I thought I was at that point in time,” Matthews said. “Nebraska was the best decision I ever made, just because I was far from home. I had to become independent. I’m normally a homebody and like to be home every day. Doing all those things on my own and just learning how to grow up and be a man away from home, it was the best decision for me.”

Making it allowed Matthews’ dream to come true. His hometown Houston Astros selected him on Sunday with the 28th pick in the MLB Draft, bringing the 21-year-old Houston kid back to where he always wanted to be.

“I’ve dreamt about this since I was a little kid,” Matthews said shortly after his selection, “and for it to be happening for the hometown team, it’s crazy. I never would have thought that.”

Most pre-draft projections pegged Matthews as a mid-second-round pick and most prospect rankings had him somewhere in the mid-50s. The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked him No. 57. Selecting Matthews so high may signal the Astros negotiated a signing bonus under the $2.88 million slot value of the 28th overall pick. Teams have until July 25 to sign their draft picks.

Though Houston’s minor-league system is regarded as one of the thinnest in the sport, it is overflowing with outfielders at the upper minor leagues. More upper-level pitching and middle infielders are needed. Houston addressed both depleted areas on Sunday, selecting Matthews and UCLA right-hander Alonzo Tredwell with its second-round pick at No. 61. Both amount to upside picks. Matthews’ high-level baseball experience is limited due to his two-sport status in high school.

Tredwell, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020, earned Freshman All-American honors as the Bruins’ closer in 2022. He moved into the starting rotation this season, but a back injury limited the 6-foot-8 righty to just 45 1/3 innings. In two years at UCLA, Tredwell struck out 113, walked 18, but threw just 92 1/3 innings.

“He’s got front-line potential. Fastball 90-95 (mph), huge extension down the slope. He’s got four pitches, throws a ton of strikes. We thought he really has a high ceiling if he can put it all together,” Astros amateur scouting director Kris Gross said. “He’s got great body control for a 6-8 guy. He’s pretty athletic. He was a pretty good hitter in high school. The whole package there presents a pretty nice upside play for us.”

No true middle infielder appeared in Law’s preseason Top 20 Astros prospect rankings. None were ranked in MLB Pipeline’s Top 20, either. Matthews could creep his way into the discussion, provided he can continue the offensive breakthrough he began as a junior.

“For a 6-foot, well put together, 195 (lb) guy, he impacts the baseball extremely hard. Some of the best in the country,” Gross said. “With him, it’s just a matter of touching the ball a little more, making a little more contact, which he’s shown signs of doing this year. For an up-the-middle guy, I think he’s got a chance to have a real impactful bat.”

With the 28th pick in the #MLBDraft, we have selected SS Brice Matthews from the University of Nebraska.#Ready2Reign pic.twitter.com/cDDISXOJI3

— Houston Astros (@astros) July 10, 2023

Matthews slashed .359/.481/.723 in 265 plate appearances at Nebraska last season. He stole 20 bases and hit 20 home runs, authoring the first 20-20 season by a Huskers player in school history and the second in Big Ten history. The Astros noticed a change in his offensive approach during Matthews’ summer in the Northwoods League and continued to track him into the collegiate season.

“He’s worked hard on the plate discipline part of his game. Where he’s made some strides is just the in-zone swing and miss,” Nebraska coach Will Bolt said. “He’s done a better job of doing damage in the middle of the plate and not missing his pitch. He’s always had a pretty good understanding of what he needs to do in terms of doing damage, but he’s really grown in terms of his pitch recognition, taking his walks and that’s where you see the OPS numbers have really jumped for him.”

Matthews displayed good plate discipline and contact numbers throughout his collegiate career — he worked 95 walks and struck out 153 times in 615 plate appearances at Nebraska — but only started to unlock power last season. He slugged .723 with 20 home runs after hitting 12 total in his first two collegiate seasons.

“He was just able to get the barrel to the ball more consistently this year, and that was kind of always the thing with him,” Bolt said. “You really don’t need to try to hit for power, if you get the barrel to it the ball is going to go. He did kind of work hard on some things from a swing perspective, but really and truly, it’s just kind of an example of a really, really gifted athlete that had not played a lot of baseball in his life just based on his football background.”

In addition to high school baseball stardom, Matthews moonlighted as Atascocita’s starting quarterback. Future Houston Texans first-round pick Kenyon Green blocked for him on the offensive line. Matthews won team offensive MVP honors in 2018.

Both Bolt and Gross lauded Matthews’ athleticism, which he’s now utilizing as a middle infielder. Matthews is a natural shortstop, but also spent time at both second base and third base while at Nebraska after playing outfield in high school.

“We think he’s got the athleticism to cover a lot of ground at shortstop,” Gross said. “It’s a little bit new for him — he was an outfielder mainly in high school, played second base at Nebraska his freshman year. Only two years at shortstop, (but) we like the range, he’s got the arm strength to do it and we think that’s his long-term future.”

After Nebraska’s season ended, Gross said the Astros hosted Matthews and his family for a pre-draft workout and visit at Minute Maid Park. Matthews said he interviewed with general manager Dana Brown at the MLB Draft Combine in Phoenix where, according to Matthews, Brown wanted “to get to know me more as a person than a player.” Brown, overseeing his first draft as Houston’s general manager, has prioritized makeup and character to the team’s amateur scouting group since his arrival.

“That spoke a lot of volumes to me,” Matthews said.

Such high pre-draft interest from the Astros excited Matthews, but he remained measured. Teams scrutinize and study countless prospects in their preparation for the draft. Guarantees are never attached.

“It was pretty cool to see that,” Matthews said, “and then for it to happen, it’s crazy.”

(Photo of Matthews: Andrew Woolley / Four Seam Images via Associated Press)