Nicholas Maton ( ; born February 18, 1997) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

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 The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

, and made his MLB debut with them in 2021.

Early life and amateur career

Maton was born and grew up in

Chatham, Illinois Chatham is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. It is located 2.8 miles south of Springfield and has a retail trade area that extends into four other municipalities, including Springfield. The population was 11,500 as of the 20 ...

, and attended Glenwood High School. 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. Maton was selected in the 40th round of the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks f ...

by the Oakland Athletics but opted not to sign with the team and instead play college baseball at Eastern Illinois University. Maton played as the

Panthers Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

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 The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...

All-Freshman team. After the season Maton played collegiate summer baseball for the Fayetteville SwampDogs of the

Coastal Plain League The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league, featuring college players recruited from throughout the nation. The league takes its name from the Class D level Coastal League which operated in the area from 19 ...

, where he batted .175 with two doubles and 15 RBIs. He transferred to

Lincoln Land Community College Lincoln Land Community College is a public community college in Springfield, Illinois. It has extended branches in different locations, including Beardstown, Jacksonville, Litchfield and Taylorville, Illinois. The main campus is less than hal ...

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. Maton was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the seventh round of the

and signed with the team.

Professional career

Philadelphia Phillies

Maton was assigned to the short-season

Williamsport Crosscutters The Williamsport Crosscutters are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Muncy Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. From 1994 to 2020, they were ...

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. He played for the Class A

Lakewood BlueClaws The Jersey Shore BlueClaws (formerly Lakewood BlueClaws) are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Lakewood, New Jersey, and are named for their locat ...

in 2018, hitting for a .256 average with eight home runs and 51 RBI's in 114 games and was a

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

All-Star. Maton was assigned to the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

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 The Reading Fightin Phils (also called the Reading Fightins) are a Minor League Baseball team based in Reading, Pennsylvania, playing in the Northeast Division of the Eastern League. The team plays their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Re ...

for the rest of the season. He hit .210 with two home runs in 21 games with Reading. After the season, Maton was selected by the Phillies to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

for the

Scottsdale Scorpions The Scottsdale Scorpions are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Scottsdale, Arizona, at Scottsdale Stadium, which is also the spring training facility of the San Francisco Gia ...

. 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''. 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 COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The Phillies added Maton to their 40-man roster after the 2020 season. 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. He made his MLB debut that night as the starting shortstop against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

, and collected his first major league hit, a single off of Giants starter

Kevin Gausman Kevin John Gausman (born January 6, 1991), nicknamed "Gaus", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, a ...

. Maton began his career with a six-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pla ...

, with multiple hits in each of the final four games. He hit the first and second home runs of his MLB career on May 16, 2021, in a game against the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. On August 23, 2022, Maton recorded his first walk-off hit against the Cincinnati Reds off pitcher Alexis Díaz. In the 2022 regular season with the Phillies, he batted .250/.341/.514 in 72 at bats with five home runs and 17 RBIs. He played 10 games each in left field, right field, and at second base, and two games each at shortstop, third base, and pitcher.

Detroit Tigers

On January 7, 2023, Maton, Matt Vierling, and Donny Sands were traded to the

in exchange for

Gregory Soto Gregory Soto (born February 11, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, with whom he debuted for in 2019. He is a two- ...

and

Kody Clemens Kody Alec Clemens (born May 15, 1996) is an American professional baseball infielder and outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers. Clemens is the son of se ...

Personal life

Maton is the younger brother of Houston Astros pitcher Phil Maton.

References

External links

Eastern Illinois Panthers bioLincoln Land Loggers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maton, Nick 1997 births Living people Baseball players from Illinois Clearwater Threshers players Eastern Illinois Panthers baseball players Lakewood BlueClaws players Lincoln Land Loggers baseball players Major League Baseball infielders People from Sangamon County, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Fightin Phils players Scottsdale Scorpions players Williamsport Crosscutters players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players