June 28: The Orioles announced that Maton went unclaimed on outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. He could’ve rejected the assignment in favor of free agency but will remain in Norfolk for now.
June 24: The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve designated infielder/outfielder Nick Maton for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to top outfield prospect Heston Kjerstad, whose previously reported recall from Triple-A Norfolk is now official.
Maton, 27, had his contract selected to the big league roster last week but only appeared in one game with the O’s and did not make a plate appearance. Baltimore acquired Maton from the Tigers in exchange for cash over the winter and eventually passed him through waivers. He’s spent the season in their minor league system logging four rehab games at High-A after an injury and another 41 games at the Triple-A level. Overall, he’s turned in a stout .292/.390/.481 batting line with seven homers, six doubles, a triple, a huge 13.2% walk rate and a 22.5% strikeout rate.
A seventh-round pick by the Phillies back in 2017, Maton impressed during his first two big league seasons. The younger brother of reliever Phil Maton, Nick slashed .254/.330/.434 in 216 plate appearances with the Phils in 2021-22. Philadelphia sent Maton, Matt Vierling and Donny Sands to Detroit in the trade that netted them Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens. Maton received ample playing time with the Tigers, but things didn’t pan out as hoped; he logged 293 plate appearances last season but delivered only a .173/.288/.305 batting line in that time.
Maton is out of minor league options, so the Orioles didn’t have the ability to send him back to Norfolk without first exposing him to waivers. He was previously outrighted by the O’s this year, so he’ll have the option to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency if he’s placed back on waivers and clears a second time.
That said, Maton has hit well in the upper minors this season and brings plenty of defensive versatility to the table. He’s spent time at all four infield positions and all three outfield positions in pro ball, albeit only 52 innings at first base and just seven innings in center. His versatility and success in the upper minors could lead to a team in need of a left-handed bat placing a claim or orchestrating a small trade. The O’s will have a week to complete a move involving Maton, whether it’s a trade or passing him through waivers.
Got to play Heston. Not sure how or where, but he’s got to play DH or the corners every day. The guy can hit Or trade the man already
Heston has been getting regular atbats with the O’s now that he’s been called back up. The O’s have some scuffling OF bats right now. Mullins has been hot lately, so that’s hice to see. But Cowser and Stowers have cooled off. Santander is also starting to heat up. Hays can’t stay on the field. The O’s could be losing a couple of potent bats in the near future, one of them could be quite a pricey contract to keep in Santander. O’Hearn I think has an option for next season. I think Mullins also is entering a contract year soon. The O’s have some big decisions to make in the near future. Time to find out if these young bats can play.
It’s not like he has anything to prove in the minors.
This is what happens when you draft well. Your Major League team is stacked with talent and the well-performing younger guys in the minors are stuck.. The way I see it, the O’s will have an opening in RF soon as I don’t see them spending the money to keep Santander since they have so many options to replace him. I also see a DH spot opening up. As good as O’Hearn is, he’s older, and he’s on a short term deal. He’s pretty much a DH first, 1B/corner OF distant second. The O’s could use that spot as a rotational one for a 4th OFer, and to keep giving Rutschmen days off. The only other position I see opening up in the near future is 1B. Can’t see the O’s paying Mountcastle when they have a couple of other options already.
Cabbage for Maton?
I suspect Kjerstad is a placeholder under Stowers is eligible to return from his option assignment.,Stowers was only sent down because Westburg was banged up
Kjerstad suspect? I( don’t believe so. I just think it’s his turn and he’s going to take serious time away from Cowser, particularly when he hits His time is now!
Quite the bad take.
Phil Maton’s brother
Could not bust a pinata with his bat!
He wouldn’t be a bad pick up for the Yankees as a stop gap.
Why did they even call him up if they were going to have to expose him to the waiver wire a week later? Why didn’t they call up Kjerstad instead?
Maton must not have impressed the big league staff. Or….something.
They called up Maton because Westburg was day to day with an injury after Soto ran into him. If Westburg was unavailable then the Orioles would have no infielders on their bench so they called up Maton to be a bench infielder in case someone gets hurt. Maton was only called up to be an emergency IF in case of injury. Now that Westburg is back, they wanted to go back to having the additional OF/PH option so they called up Kjerstad (Stowers was not eligible to be recalled because he was sent down less than 10 days ago).
Maton, as the article states, can play the OF as well as IF, so he could also have been the additional OF/PH Option.
It was never a long term move. He was an emergency stop gap while Westie was day t0 day with an injury. He passed through waivers, so that shows the O’s knew what they were doing. Now he’s organizational depth.
He sucks,he was only there for emergency purposes.
As I said, now he’s “organizational depth,” meaning he can play just about everywhere to give others a night off. He can be an emergency call up if needed and you don’t care if you lose him.
Royals are looking for a utility player. They should acquire Maton and give him a shot. If he doesn’t work out for KC, they still have time for the opportunity to trade for a utility player a month from now…
Maton can take a walk, fill an uber util position in the bench and give you a lefty bat PH later in the game without costing you defense. There are a number of teams that could do worse. Hope the O’s can keep him but to be honest, he’ll get more playing time on the Royals or White Sox.
One of the worst MLB bats I have ever seen !
He’s welcome back in Philadelphia.