Matthews is the 401^st former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB

Rochester, Minn. – St. Cloud Rox alum Brice Matthews made his Major League debut on Friday, July 11, 2025. Matthews is the 401^st former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.

Matthews, who played collegiately at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, played for the Rox in 2021 and 2022. He was drafted in the 1^st round, 28^th overall, of the 2023 MLB draft by the Houston Astros.

In 2021 with the Rox, Matthews played in 30 games and hit .308 with two home runs, 20 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. In 2022 he hit six home runs, drove in 29, stole 12 bases, scored 49 times, and hit .271.

Matthews started his professional career in 2023 with the Astros Rookie level team in the Florida Complex League. After two games he was sent to the Fayetteville Woodpeckers of the Low-A Carolina League. Across 35 games, between the two teams, he hit .208 with four home runs, 11 RBI, and 18 stolen bases.

In 2024 Matthews started the season in the Florida Complex League and then moved to the Asheville Tourists of the High-A South Atlantic League. After 21 games he moved up to the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Double-A Texas League. He would play in 42 games with the Hooks, before another promotion, to end the season, to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. For the year he played in 79 games and hit .265 with 15 home runs, 15 doubles, 44 RBI, and 32 stolen bases.

Prior to his call-up to the Astros, Matthews had started the 2025 season in Sugar Land and was hitting .283 with 10 home runs, five triples, 39 RBI, and 25 steals in 73 games. In his Major League debut against the Texas Rangers, Matthews started the game at second base but went 0 for 4 at the plate.

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 32^nd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 24 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 400 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). League games are viewable live on Northwoods League+ (at watch.northwoodsleague.com) and ESPN+.