Nick

Maton

Typically a utility infielder, Maton made 15 starts for the White Sox over the first six weeks of the season, with 13 of those coming at DH and the other two at first base. He was DFA’d after hitting .167/.286/.315 in 63 plate appearances, and after clearing waivers and joining Triple-A Charlotte, he’d hit .192/.354/.346 in 65 plate appearances.

Maton can declare free agency, but correctly reasoning that no other franchise would ever give him 13 starts at DH in a one-month span, he’s staying with the White Sox. Maton hit .167/.286/.315 in 63 plate appearances before being DFA’d last week.

It’s unclear why the White Sox bothered calling up Maton earlier this week if the plan was to promote slugging prospect Tim Elko in a few days. The 28-year-old has hit .167 (9-for-54) with two homers in 25 games this season at the highest level. He’ll continue to bounce around as a utility infielder for the next couple seasons, but offers essentially zero fantasy relevance.

The White Sox are bring back Maton for another stint instead of slugging prospect Tim Elko for reasons that are unclear. The 28-year-old returns to the big leagues with Andrew Benintendi hitting the injured list with a calf strain. He hit .173 (9-for-52) with two homers and four RBI in 23 games earlier this season before being removed from Chicago’s 40-man roster.

Maton has the ability to elect free agency, but might end up sticking around with Chicago as emergency infield depth. The 28-year-old went unclaimed on waivers after being removed from the White Sox’ 40-man roster over the weekend.

Maton has been booted from Chicago’s active roster to make room for newly-acquired rookie Gage Workman after batting .173 (9-for-52) with two homers and four RBI in 23 games. The 28-year-old infielder figures to make it through waivers unclaimed and will likely hit the open market in search of a new opportunity.

It’s a routine day off for Vaughn, who has started every game so far this season. Nick Maton will play first base and bat leadoff, with Luis Robert moving to designated hitter and Travis Jankowski getting the start in center field.

Maton — who functioned as the White Sox’ designated hitter and leadoff man in this one — worked a leadoff walk off of Simeon Woods Richardson but was cut down attempting to steal second base. He then victimized Louis Varland for a 406-foot (109.3 mph EV) solo shot in the sixth inning that extended the White Sox’ advantage to 3-0. The versatile 28-year-old finished the night 1-for-3 plus a walk and is now hitting .222 (2-for-9) with a pair of solo home runs on the young season.

Maton never found a home in the majors last year, but now he’s the White Sox’s leadoff man against right-handers, even if he probably wouldn’t be on the roster at all if not for the late injuries to Josh Rojas, Brandon Drury and Mike Tauchman. It’s not something that figures to last for an overly long time.

Sosa homered on Opening Day and has three hard-hit balls to one strikeout in two games, but it seems he needs the early day off anyway. Meanwhile, the White Sox have Nick Maton DHing for a second game in a row.