Rays Trade Phil Maton to Mets: What to Make of Move

The Mets entered play on July 9 with a two-and-a-half game deficit in the NL Wild Card and relief help is on the way. New York and the Rays announced a trade that will send Phil Maton to the Mets, giving the Amazins’ depth for the rest of this season as well as in 2025. And, the Rays re-position themselves amidst a slide in the standings.

A Look at Maton

Reliever Phil Maton is, by all accounts, a power pitcher. That was true in his tenure with Houston, one that started in 2021 after the Astros acquired him and Yainer Diaz from the Guardians for Myles Straw.

Maton struck out 171 batters over 157 innings with the Astros from 2021-23, and he helped form a devastating Houston bullpen that also included Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu. He was excellent in the 2021 MLB Playoffs, as he struck out 14 over 12.1 IP and only allowed one run. However, Maton was excluded from the postseason roster that won it all for Houston in 2022 after hand surgery.

This season with Tampa, Maton struck out 30 over 35.1 IP and owned a WHIP of 1.33. He does have above-average Chase% (30.4%) and Whiff% (27.7%) rates.

Nicknamed “Spin Rate” for his stuff, Maton has, as one would expect, a high-spin curveball with plus movement. Maton’s curveball has a spin rate of 3,153 RPM, the fourth-highest in the Majors among pitchers with 50+ PA. It’s a big breaker that he stays on top of and a pitch that runs away from right-handed hitters.

That’s not the only pitch in his arsenal that can do damage. Maton will pair it with a harder sweeper, along with a cut fastball that’s his most-used pitch (34.4%). It’s a pitch he’ll pound up, as can be seen from his whiff chart with the Rays. Along with those swings and misses, he gets jam shots and called strikes.

Phil Maton whiff map TB 2024 — Maton can get whiffs with his sweeper, curveball, and cutter. That arsenal gives him a wide array of weapons for both left and right-handed hitters.

After the trade for Phil Maton, the Mets designated starter Joey Lucchesi for assignment. The Rays will receive a player to be named later.

Analysis

Tampa is off the hook for Maton’s salary, and Spotrac notes he’ll be owed $2,755,364 for the rest of the season. And, it marks the second notable trade Tampa’s made this summer. The Rays recently dealt starter Aaron Civale to the Brewers.

The Rays are sliding in the AL playoff race. Tampa is 44-46 on the season as of July 9, 13 games back of the division and 5.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot. Thus, it does make sense for the Rays to adjust, especially since the bullpen isn’t a weakness for Tampa. The Rays bullpen owned the seventh-best SIERA (3.96) in the league, as a healthy Pete Fairbanks, Jason Adam, and Garrett Cleavinger have held down the later innings for the Rays.

As for the Mets, New York’s bullpen could use the help. The Mets entered play on July 9 with the 15th-best FIP (3.97) and ninth-best SIERA (3.56) in the league among relief cores. However, depth has become a real issue for the Mets’ bullpen. Drew Smith and Brooks Raley both went down due to Tommy John surgery, which will also knock them out for 2025. Grant Hartwig and Sean Reid-Foley are also on the IL.

Reed Garrett was quite early on for the Mets. But since May 1, opposing batters have a .796 OPS and 4.56 ERA, far from the .489 OPS and 0.57 ERA he sported in April. Dedniel Nunez has flourished in recent weeks, giving the Mets a good setup option for Edwin Diaz.

Maton has a $7.5M club option for 2025, an option the Mets accept with the trade. New York’s down two arms already for next season, so this move does give the Mets some wiggle room for 2025.