Nick Maton was a seventh-round pick in 2017 out of Lincoln Land Community College, where he had transferred after one season at Eastern Illinois.
His brother, reliever Phil Maton, is now with the Indians. In each of his first two full seasons, he was an All-Star, and he was promoted to Double-A late in 2019.
His tenure in the Arizona Fall League was cut short due to a fractured thumb, but he still had competitive at-bats while trying to play wounded.
Maton has a buggy whip of a swing that creates solid bat speed and helps him to catch up to velocity, according to the Phillies.
He has excellent control of the strike zone, limiting strikeouts and drawing walks at a high rate. With little extra-base authority from the left side of the plate, he’ll never be a major power hitter, but he won’t have the bat knocked out of his hand either.
He’s hardly a burner, but he’s aggressive on the basepaths and is still working on improving his steal rate.
Maton has a chance to play shortstop on a regular basis thanks to his strong defensive talents. He’s proven to be a capable second baseman, even mixing in some third base in 2019.
Although his floor is a valuable super-utility type, don’t rule him out as an everyday player at one position just yet.
Is Nick Maton For Real?
Nicholas Maton, an American professional baseball shortstop and second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball, was born on February 18, 1999. (MLB). In 2021, he made his MLB debut.