Nick Maton

Nicholas Maton (/ˈmeɪtɑːn/ MAY-tahn;[1] born February 18, 1997) is an American professional baseball utility player for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Eastern Illinois University and Lincoln Land Community College. Maton was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the seventh round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, and made his MLB debut with them in 2021.

Nick Maton
Maton batting for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022
Detroit Tigers – No. 9
Utility player
Born: (1997-02-18) February 18, 1997
Chatham, Illinois, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 19, 2021, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Batting average.208
Home runs15
Runs batted in63
Teams

Early life and amateur career

Maton was born and grew up in Chatham, Illinois, and attended Glenwood High School.[2] He was a four-year starter on the Titans baseball team and was named first team All-State and the Central State Eight Conference Player of the Year as a senior after batting .442 with 28 RBIs, 45 runs scored and 20 stolen bases while also going 8–1 as a pitcher with a 0.95 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched.[3] Maton was selected in the 40th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft by the Oakland Athletics but opted not to sign with the team and instead play college baseball at Eastern Illinois University.[4]

Maton played as the Panthers starting shortstop as a true freshman, batting .299 with 12 doubles, four triples and three home runs with 28 runs scored and 24 runs driven in and was named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Freshman team.[5] After the season Maton played collegiate summer baseball for the Fayetteville SwampDogs of the Coastal Plain League, where he batted .175 with two doubles and 15 RBIs.[6] He transferred to Lincoln Land Community College after his freshman year. In his only season with the Loggers, Maton batted .408 with eight home runs, 46 RBIs, 60 runs scored and 33 stolen bases while also posting a 4–1 record in thirteen appearances as a pitcher and initially committed to continue his collegiate baseball career at Missouri.[7] Maton was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the seventh round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft and signed with the team.[8]

Professional career
Maton in 2021

Philadelphia Phillies

Maton was assigned to the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters to begin his professional career, where he batted .252 with two home runs, 13 RBIs and 34 runs scored and stole ten bases in 58 games.[9] He played for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws in 2018, hitting for a .256 average with eight home runs and 51 RBI's in 114 games and was a South Atlantic League All-Star.[10][11] Maton was assigned to the Class A-Advanced Clearwater Threshers to start the 2019 season and posted a .276 batting average with five home runs, 14 doubles and 45 RBIs and was named a Florida State League All-Star before earning a promotion to the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils for the rest of the season. He hit .210 with two home runs in 21 games with Reading.[12] After the season, Maton was selected by the Phillies to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Scottsdale Scorpions.[13] Maton was invited to Spring Training by the Phillies in 2020 and was named one of the Phillies top 10 prospects for 2020 by Baseball America.[14][15] He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Phillies added Maton to their 40-man roster after the 2020 season.[16] After being assigned to the team's alternate training site to start the 2021 season, Maton was promoted to the Phillies on April 19, 2021.[17] He made his MLB debut that night as the starting shortstop against the San Francisco Giants, and collected his first major league hit, a single off of Giants starter Kevin Gausman.[18] Maton began his career with a six-game hitting streak, with multiple hits in each of the final four games.[19] He hit the first and second home runs of his MLB career on May 16, 2021, in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays.[20]

On August 23, 2022, Maton recorded his first walk-off hit against the Cincinnati Reds off pitcher Alexis Díaz. [21]

In the 2022 regular season with the Phillies, he batted .250/.341/.514 in 72 at bats with five home runs and 17 RBIs.[22] He played 10 games each in left field, right field, and at second base, and two games each at shortstop, third base, and pitcher.[22] Maton made one post-season appearance during the Phillies 2022 playoff run in Game 2 of the World Series. He was hitless in one at bat as a pinch-hitter.[23]

Detroit Tigers

On January 7, 2023, Maton, Matt Vierling, and Donny Sands were traded to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens.[24] On April 15, 2023, Maton hit his first career walk-off home run against the San Francisco Giants in the 11th inning.[25] The Tigers optioned Maton to Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens following the game on June 25, 2023, after he struggled on offense and defense for much of the season.[26]

Personal life

Maton is the younger brother of Houston Astros pitcher Phil Maton.[27]

References
  1. Major League Baseball 2021 Player Name Presentation Preferences and Pronunciations (Philadelphia Phillies page). Retrieved June 6, 2021
  2. Tillman, Donnie (June 20, 2017). "Catching Up with Phillies Draft Pick Nick Maton". NewsChannel20.com.
  3. Mahan, Ryan (July 1, 2015). "CS8 baseball player of year: Glenwood's Nick Maton excelled as pitcher, hitter, fielder". The State Journal-Register.
  4. "Nick Maton Stats & Scouting Report". Baseball America. June 29, 2017.
  5. Breen, Matt (June 13, 2017). "Phillies selections on Day 2 of the MLB draft". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  6. "Coastal Plain League".
  7. "Seventh Round Draft Pick, Nick Maton Will Sign with the Philadelphia Phillies". Channel1450.com. June 16, 2017.
  8. "Glenwood, Lincoln Land's Nick Maton chosen in MLB draft". The State Journal-Register. June 13, 2017.
  9. Giombarrese, Greg (February 28, 2018). "Road to Lakewood: Infielders". blueclaws.mlblogs.com.
  10. Brookover, Bob (April 19, 2019). "Phillies' top 25 minor-league prospects: Spencer Howard, Alec Bohm lead list". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  11. "Six BlueClaws Named South Atlantic League All-Stars". MiLB.com. June 5, 2018.
  12. "Phillies' Nick Maton: Will play in big-league camp". CBSSports.com. RotoWire. January 13, 2020.
  13. "Tracking Phillies prospects in the Arizona Fall League: Josh Stephen earning attention again". The Morning Call. October 8, 2019.
  14. Montemurro, Meghan (February 7, 2020). "Evaluating the Phillies' 29 spring training non-roster invitees and their chances of making the team". The Athletic.
  15. "2020 Philadelphia Phillies Top 30 MLB Prospects". Baseball America.
  16. Zolecki, Todd (November 20, 2020). "Phillies protect six from Rule 5 Draft". MLB.com.
  17. "Phillies' Nick Maton: Making MLB debut". CBS Sports. RotoWire. April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  18. Lauber, Scott (April 19, 2021). "Phillies' bats go quiet in 2-0 loss to Giants as Gabe Kapler gets 200th career win". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  19. Lauber, Scott (April 25, 2021). "Phillies rookie Nick Maton picks up two more hits. Could he be an option in center field?". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  20. "Box Score, Blue Jays 10, Phillies 8". mlb.com. May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  21. "Reds 6, Phillies 7 Final Score (08/23/2022) on MLB Gameday". MLB.com. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  22. "Nick Maton Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  23. Scott Allen. "Phillies Cut Astros Lead to 5-1 in the Seventh". Washington Post.com, October 29, 2022.
  24. Richter, Erich (2023-01-07). "Phillies acquire stud closer Gregory Soto from Tigers". New York Post. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
  25. Beck, Jason (2023-04-14). "Maton's walk-off lights up Comerica ... literally". MLB.com. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  26. "Detroit Tigers option Nick Maton to Triple-A Toledo because 'adjustments need to be made'". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  27. Cairns, Mike (July 31, 2019). "Baseball Bloodlines Run Strong in Maton Family". BayNews9.com.
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