Phil Maton: 2024 Wild Card Champion Mets Relief Pitcher (2024)

Philip Louis Maton III was born on March 25th, 1993, in Paducah, Kentucky.

Family: Both of Maton's parents attended Eastern Illinois University playing sports. His father ran on the track team & his mother played volleyball. 

Phil has two brothers, both played pro baseball. His brother Nick Maton has played parts of four seasons in ML with the Phillies (2021-2022) Tigers (2023) & Orioles (2024) batting .205.

Phil attended Louisiana Tech where he ended his career as the school's all-time leader in innings pitched (358.2) & is second in strike outs (324). In 2015, the six foot two right hander was selected in the 20th round of the draft by the San Diego Padres.

Maton came up with the Padres & spent parts of three seasons with them making 112 appearances with a 4.16 ERA. There his teammates gave him the nickname "Spin Rate". In July 2019 he was traded to the Cleveland Indians where he pitched middle relief for parts of three more seasons.

On July 30th, 2021, Maton was traded along with Yainer Diaz to the Houston Astros for Miles
Straw. In Houston he was 4-0 with a 4.97 ERA striking out 24 batters in 25 innings.

2021 Post Season: In 12 post season games, Maton allowed just one run, a HR to the Red Sox J.D. Martinez in the ALCS. In the World Series loss to the Braves, Maton pitched in five games, getting credit with three holds, as he pitched 5.2 scoreless innings, striking out eight.

Overall Maton pitched parts of three seasons with Houston, going 8-5 with a 3.67 ERA in 162 appearances, making the post season twice. In 2022 he was 0-2 in 67 appearances.

Immaculate Innings: On June 15th, he struck out three Texas Rangers on nine pitches. In that game his teammate Luis Garcia also struck out three batters on nine pitches making it the first time in MLB history the feat was accomplished twice in the same game.

That year in the last game of the regular season, he faced his brother Nick who singled off him. After the game Maton punched a locked, injured himself & missed the playoffs. That year Houton won their second franchise World Series.

In 2023 Maton returned, going 4-3 with a career best 3.00 ERA. He also posted career bests in
appearances (68) & opponents' batting average (.207). 

2023 Post Season: In the post season Maton had more success pitching six scoreless innings with seven Ks over six games. He appeared in two games of the NLDS win over Minnesota & four games in the loss to Texas. Dating back to 2021 Maton pitched 13scoreless innings in the post season over 13 games.

In February 2024, Maton signed with the Tampa Rays. In 40 games he posted a .458 ERA going 1-2 with two saves.

On July 9th, Maton was purchased by the New York Mets to strengthen up the bullpen, as a right-handed late inning reliever.

Mets Career: On July 11th, Maton debuted with the Mets pitching a scoreless 7th inning in a combined shut out over the Nationals. 

The next night he came on in the 8th inning, with a runner on & the Mets ahead 7-4 over the Rockies. He then gave up a two run HR to Brenton Doyle but held on to strike out Brenden Rogers to end the inning & earn a hold. It was the only HR he would give up in the regular season with the Mets.

From July 14th to July 25th, he pitched 4.1 scoreless innings over a five-game span, earning a win & two holds. On July 25th, Maton pitched a scoreless 10th inning against the Braves & earned the win when Jeff McNeil hit a walk off single to win the game for the Mets fourth straight win.

In the month of August, Maton made 13 appearances giving up two runs in 12.1 innings (1.41 ERA) with opponents hitting just .159 against him. He also struck out 13 while walking four, collecting four holds along the way.

On September 2nd, he earned his first Mets save, his third on the season in a 4-1 win over the Red Sox at Citi Field. On September 8th, Maton took his first Mets loss, as he gave up a two run double to Santiago Espinal in the 9th inning of a 3-1 loss to the Reds. 

Over his next six appearances, he pitched a total of seven scoreless innings, striking out seven & one batter, holding opponents to a .125 batting average. The Mets were 4-2 in that time fighting for a wild card spot, with wins over the Phillies (twice) Nationals & Brewers.

On September 22nd, he pitched his Mets season high two innings, helping the Mets beat Zack Wheeler & the Phillies while earning the victory, in a 2-1 thriller at Citi Field. On September 28th, Maton reached a season high in Ks, as he struck out four of the five batters he faced in a loss in Milwaukee.

On September 30th, in the first game of a rescheduled doubleheader in Atlanta, with both teams needing a win to get into the post season, Maton came on in the bottom of the 8th inning after the Mets had taken a 6-3 lead. 

He gave up a single & a walk, eventually getting charged with two runs as Edwin Diaz blew the lead in the Braves four run inning. They were bailed out when Francisco Lindor hit a two run HR in the top of the 9th for the win.

In 31 games for New York Maton was 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA. He struck out 30 batters & walked six in 28.2 innings of work.

2024 Post Season- NLWC: For Maton it was his fourth post season appearance. Although he fared well to help the Mets get to the playoffs, his post season performances were not as effective. He was 0-1 with an 8.53 ERA, allowing six runs on six hits in 6.1 innings in six appearances. 

In the NLWC win over the Brewers in Milwaukee, Maton came on in the 8th inning of Game #2 with the Mets ahead 3-2. But he blew the lead giving up HRs to Jackson Chourio & Garrett Mitchell taking the loss. They were the first HRs he had given up since July 19th.

2024 NLDS: In the NLDS win over the Phillies, Maton was more effective making appearances in the Mets Game#1 & Game #3 victories. He gave up one run in 1.2 innings of work.

2024 NLCS: In the NLCS loss to the Dodgers, he made three appearances, giving up two runs,
both were HRs. 

In Game #4, Maton came on & immediately gave up a two run HR to Mookie Betts. He then pitched a solid 7th inning, then gave up a single & walk to start the top of the 8th when he was removed for Danny Young.

In the final Game #6 loss, Maton gave up a HR to Will Smith. Overall, he allowed four HRs in the post season in six appearances. In 31 regular season games with the Mets, Maton had just given up one HR back in his second appearance.

In his eight-year career, Maton is 19-15 with a 4.16 ERA. He struck out 458 batters, walked 160 & gave up 190 HRs in 411 innings in 415 appearances.

Family: Phil is married to Katelyn (Cook) who was a softball player at Louisiana Tech.