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Cardinals Sign Phil Maton: What to Make of Move

Originally posted on New Baseball Media
By Chris Studley | Last updated Mar 13, 2025 4:34 PM ET

The Cardinals added Phil Maton to their bullpen on March 13, giving St. Louis another veteran arm before Opening Day. Maton is notorious for spinning the baseball and limiting hard contact but will look for a rebound after a rough run with the Mets last October.

A Look at Maton

Veteran reliever Phil Maton spent 2024 between the Rays and Mets, and performed well by and large. Maton struck out 60 over 64 IP, posting a 3.64 ERA across 71 games pitched.

The splits on Maton last year were also strong. The veteran righty had a .647 OPS against right-handed bats and a .653 OPS against lefties.

If you’re looking for a reason why, Maton has weapons to deal with both lefties and righties. His bread-and-butter pitch is a cut fastball that sits in the 89-91 MPH range with movement (11.5” IVB), rising and cutting in on left-handed batters and away from righties. And with plus extension (7.1 in.), it plays up.

Aside from the cutter, Maton can spin the ball effectively with either a curveball with plus vertical and horizontal movement, coupled with a sharp sweeper that can get away from him at times, both in and out of the zone. Four of Maton’s six conceded home runs came off the sweeper.

Phil Maton Pitch Movement 2024 Via New Baseball Media

The curveball, from both a movement and numbers perspective, was a tighter, more effective weapon. Opposing batters hit just .160 off it (33.5% Whiff%) last season.

Command & repeatability are Maton’s biggest problems. That was clearly true in the postseason, as Maton walked four and conceded four home runs in the 2024 Postseason. It was, however, a sharp departure from the past, as Maton was a highly-reliable reliever during Houston’s playoff runs in 2021 and 2023.

Maton gave up just one earned run over 18.1 playoff innings in that span.

Per the team, the Cardinals are signing Phil Maton to a one-year deal that’s reportedly worth $2MM.

Analysis

The addition of Maton is a low-risk one for the Cardinals, and it’s a deal that St. Louis should be able to easily move off should the team be sellers come the Trade Deadline.

Since Maton can get lefties and righties out, he should give Oli Marmol ample options. St. Louis has two good left-handed relievers on the roster, JoJo Romero and John King. Even though Maton is not a left-hander himself, he’s got weapons to go against opposite-sided bats, and do so with a different pitch arsenal and arm slot compared to the other two.

Not to mention, he could be called upon to get seventh and eighth inning work to set up closer Ryan Helsley.

This article first appeared on New Baseball Media and was syndicated with permission.

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