How Phil Maton is moving past bad start, becoming high-leverage reliever Cubs need

Posted April 09, 2026 7:08 pm

By Sahadev Sharma

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — After Tuesday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, Phil Maton was hunched over an iPad, watching his delivery and searching for answers. For the second game in a row, Maton had struggled, and he’s poring over every detail to try and fix what’s wrong.

On Monday, after entering a game the Chicago Cubs trailed by one — an unusual situation for someone who is supposed to be a high-leverage reliever — Maton allowed a walk and a two-run homer. The next evening, Maton came into a blowout and gave up two runs on three hits, including a rocket double.

“It’s just extremely frustrating,” Maton said. “Trying to get my delivery back to where it needs to be. Doing that while still trying to throw meaningful innings for us is really difficult. I just need to clean that up soon and get back to who I am as a pitcher.”

Maton isn’t a reclamation project. Unlike previous offseasons, the Cubs were aggressive in targeting relievers coming off strong seasons. This was not a situation where a reliever was coming off a terrible season and the Cubs were hoping they could correct some issues. Maton isn’t a trusted veteran on the downtrend who could be had for cheap like some other recent additions. The Cubs saw Maton as someone who had plenty left in the tank, a 33-year-old who had found something extra in 2025 and could build on that. So they made him their first signing and paid him well, giving him a two-year, $14.5 million deal.

Coming off a strong season in which he saw his velocity jump and posted a 2.79 ERA with a 32.7% strikeout season, Maton didn’t want to assume he couldn’t continue to get better. So in the offseason he looked for little ways he could improve. Find that extra tick of velocity and better shapes for his pitches, and try to move more efficiently.

“I feel like all those avenues I pursued this offseason were not the right way,” Maton said. “I’m kind of paying the price right now.”

Phil Maton ASSOCIATED PRESS

Maton said he felt fine in the spring training. The shapes of his pitches were good and he liked where his delivery was at. The execution wasn’t perfect, but that’s what spring training is for. Now he feels like it would have been better to be out of whack a month ago so he had spring training games to get right.

Maton’s primary offerings are his cutter and his curveball. Last season, those pitches were the main generators of whiff for him. He allowed a .282 and .209 wOBA on those pitches, respectively. This season, those numbers are .431 and .583, respectively. The whiff on his cutter is way down, from 32.9% to 8.0%. That pitch is what he’s focusing on.

“I’m just really trying to simplify my delivery and get back to where I was last year when I was feeling really good with my delivery,” Maton said. “Efficient down the mound and getting into my legs. Right now I’m just not doing that.”

Maton’s cutter is down a full tick and a half, to 89.2 mph. He’s also getting too much cut on the pitch and not as much ride as he likes. Essentially, Maton is getting too rotational. He wants to stay behind the ball more, and in turn, that’ll fix both the velocity and shape of the pitch.

And the curveball?

“Oh, that’s been terrible,” Maton said. “It has to do with being around the cutter. I do have a sweepy curveball, but swing-and-miss typically happens above and below the barrel. It’s trying to get more depth back on my curveball. That’s where the swing and miss is going to happen. I think it’s one of those things, fix one thing, it’ll fix both.”

With the guidance of pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and assistant pitching coach Casey Jacobson, Maton is putting in the work to get right. His focus is on his arm path and the timing with his lower half. He said plyo work helps clean up his arm action, making it shorter and more compact. He’s also added drill work, including drop-step drills, to get his posture where it needs to be and to make sure he’s moving toward the plate instead of being rotational.

“It’s very fortunate I have guys like Tommy and Casey who are poring over video, looking at every avenue, stuff I don’t even understand to try and help clean things up for me,” Maton said. “Hopefully this is a quick hiccup and just move on down the road.”

Maton is also an avid note-taker. He’s been journaling after every outing he’s had in his professional career, all the way back to 2015, when he was in Low A with the San Diego Padres. He’s been looking back at his notes from 2025 to try to find cues that will help him return to form.

As a veteran, it’s hardly the first time he’s had struggles. In 2024 he had a 12.00 ERA after eight outings. In his final 63 outings, he delivered a 2.79 ERA.

“Thankfully, I’ve had a lot of challenging moments,” Maton said. “Even my wife said, ‘No, you always get through this stuff, you always figure it out.’ It’s good having people like that in your corner. Having failure early in my career has created endurance. But also, I feel like I troubleshoot pretty fast now.”

Maton is also happy that his manager, Craig Counsell, hasn’t lost faith in him. The Cubs know they need Maton and that it’s foolish to give up on relievers early in the year. They see the fixes that need to be made and that Maton is working hard to correct them. Right now, patience is key.

“Phil’s one of those guys you’re going to count on in big innings, you’re going to count on him to get right-handed hitters out,” Counsell said. “So we need that, absolutely. He’s not throwing it like he’s capable of the last couple outings. But we’ll get him there. I’m very confident we’ll get him there.”