Maton’s locker punch cost him a broken bone in his throwing hand and any chance at participating in the 2022 playoffs. Robertson will at least have to sit out a National League Division Series matchup against the Atlanta Braves after suffering a calf injury.
“It was kind of a shortsighted move, and ultimately it was selfish,” Maton said Tuesday. “It’s one of those things that I hope doesn’t affect our team moving forward.”
A 29-year-old reliever who made 67 appearances this season for Houston, Maton said he broke the fifth metacarpal in his right hand after a game last week against the Phillies.
Coming into the game in the eighth inning, he recorded one out while hitting a batter and giving up two hits, including one to his brother, Philadelphia utility man Nick Maton. Phil Maton gave up an earned run on the sequence and was charged with another after he was lifted for another reliever, who gave up a sacrifice fly that brought home Nick Maton for the second of Philadelphia’s only two runs in a 3-2 loss.
Brothers Nick Maton and Phil Maton faced each other for the first time ever in a game.
Nick Maton won the battle and bragging rights forever by getting a hit. Phillies dugout went nuts. pic.twitter.com/6RChT3eRBL
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) October 5, 2022
In a surgical procedure Monday, Maton said, he had screws placed in his right hand.
The “most frustrating part” about his injury, the sixth-year MLB veteran said, was that he thought he was “throwing the ball really well.”
“Even last month, when I had a 4.00 ERA, my thought process was to have a really good last month and try to put my body in a good position to be ready for the postseason and have my best stuff for this time of the year,” he told reporters at Houston’s Minute Maid Park before an American League Division Series matchup with the Seattle Mariners.
“No excuses for what I did,” Maton added.
Phil Maton’s right hand is in a cast after surgery yesterday. He punched his locker after his last outing because he “was upset,” calling it a “selfish” move and is hopeful it won’t affect the Astros going forward. pic.twitter.com/U2gm5qqzED
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) October 11, 2022
Robertson, who made 22 appearances for Philadelphia in relief following a midseason trade from the Chicago Cubs, was hurt when he leaped up in the dugout Saturday after the Phillies’ Bryce Harper homered at St. Louis’s Busch Stadium. The second-inning blast got Philadelphia started on a 2-0 win over the Cardinals to complete a two-game sweep of their first-round series, but now the Phillies must forge ahead without an experienced bullpen arm.
“He’s devastated,” Phillies Manager Rob Thomson said of the 37-year-old Robertson on Tuesday, when Philadelphia battled the Braves in Game 1 at Atlanta’s Truist Park. “He really wanted to pitch in the series. He knows how big a part he is to this club, and he’s very disappointed. Trust me, he’s going to work and do everything he can to get back as soon as he can.”
Third-year pitcher Nick Nelson replaced Robertson on Philadelphia’s NLDS roster. The manager said he and his staff “don’t know” if Robertson might be available should the Phillies make it to the NL Championship Series.
In place of Phil Maton, the Astros named rookie Hunter Brown to their ALDS roster. The right-hander notched an 0.89 ERA over seven appearances, including two starts, and 20⅓ innings.
The Astros and Phillies got off to great starts Tuesday. Philadelphia built a six-run lead over Atlanta and hung on for a 7-6 win, then Houston stormed back from a four-run deficit and got an 8-7 victory over Seattle on Yordan Alvarez’s three-run homer with two outs in the ninth.