Biography
Phillip Louis Maton III (born March 25, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the San Diego Padres.
High school and college
Maton attended Glenwood High School in Chatham, Illinois, and played college baseball at Louisiana Tech University. Maton’s two younger brothers also play baseball. Nick is a shortstop in the Phillies organization and Jacob is a pitcher who was drafted by the Mariners in 2018, but opted to play college baseball at Coastal Carolina.
Professional career
Minor leagues
Maton was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 20th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft. He made his professional debut that year with the Short Season-A Tri-City Dust Devils. In 23 relief appearances, Maton pitched to a 4–2 win–loss record, 1.38 earned run average (ERA), and 58 strikeouts in 322⁄3 innings pitched. In 2016, Maton pitched for the Class-A Fort Wayne TinCaps, Advanced-A Lake Elsinore Storm, and Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas. He made a total of 38 appearances for the three teams, and posted a 5–3 record, 1.74 ERA, and 78 strikeouts in 512⁄3 innings. After the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League for the Peoria Javelinas. Maton began the 2017 season with Triple-A El Paso.
San Diego Padres
On June 11, 2017, Maton was called up by the Padres after Jake Esch was designated for assignment. Maton remained with the big league club for the rest of the season, pitching in a middle relief role. He finished the season with a 4.19 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 43 innings over 46 games. Maton started 2018 with Triple-A El Paso, but was quickly recalled to the majors when Wil Myers went to the disabled list on April 4. On May 13, Maton went to the DL with a strained lat and returned to the team on June 21 after a rehab assignment. He was quickly optioned to Triple-A on June 24, but recalled again on July 9 after posting a sub-1.00 WHIP in six appearances in El Paso. Maton stayed with the Padres for the remainder of the year, again pitching in middle relief. For the season, he had a 4.37 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 471⁄3 innings. Maton's walk rate rose in 2018, and he was less effective after returning from his injury, posting a 0.56 ERA in his 16 innings before going on the DL and a 6.32 ERA with the Padres afterwards.
Cleveland Indians
On July 12, 2019, Maton was traded to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for international bonus pool allotments. In Maton's subsequent 9 games with Cleveland, he posted a 2.92 ERA in 121⁄3 innings.