Astros Fan Gets Big Reward for Catching J.J. Matijevic's First Home Run Ball

Top Houston Astros prospect J.J. Matijevic made his MLB debut earlier this season, but he was still chasing his elusive first career hit after making five appearances. That all changed in a big way on Sunday, when Matijevic blasted an opposite-field home run in the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox.

Sending his first career hit into the bleachers, though, meant that ball could be as good as gone. Thankfully, the organization offered a handsome reward to the young fan that ended up with the special memento.

ESPN revealed on its broadcast of the game that 16-year-old Ryland Freeman received six tickets to a future game, six batting practice access tickets, a signed ball by Jose Altuve, and an autographed Justin Verlander jersey.

Having Matijevic's first career hit ball would be the highlight of any Astro fan's collection, but Freeland made out well in this trade. It turns out the Corpus Christi native is a huge Verlander fan, so getting an inscribed jersey from his idol is a nice consolation.

This is one of those special moments only baseball can produce. Both sides ended up happy, and both will have something very personal to remember this day.

Isaiah De Los Santos is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Isaiah De Los Santos also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zayyy05328. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.