Maton breaks hand on locker, out for playoffs

HOUSTON -- After the final game of the regular season last Wednesday against the Phillies, Astros reliever Phil Maton spoke to the media for several minutes about giving up a hit to his brother, Nick, in the eighth inning. Maton smiled and joked about the confrontation, but he had sustained a serious hand injury moments earlier.

Maton, who was left off the Astros’ American League Division Series roster, revealed Tuesday that he'd broken the fifth metacarpal in his right (throwing) hand after punching his locker following the outing. He had surgery to repair the fracture on Monday and should be ready for next season.

“I was upset with how my outing went,” Maton said. “It was a rather short-sighted move, and ultimately, it was selfish. It’s one of those that I hope doesn’t affect our team moving forward.”

Maton said he knew he had injured his hand before speaking to the media after the season finale but popped the bone back into place. An MRI revealed further damage, leading to surgery. He had screws inserted in his hand and will be in a cast for eight weeks.

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“Once I got the X-ray and found out it was [broken] more than I thought, it was a little bit different mood,” he said.

Because of his up-and-down regular season, Maton wasn’t a lock to be on the ALDS roster even had he been healthy, but he will be out for the remainder of the playoffs. He finished the season with a 3.84 ERA in 67 games after allowing two runs Wednesday.

Maton was a key piece of last year’s Astros team that won the AL pennant. He posted a 0.73 ERA in 12 1/3 innings, including five scoreless outings in the World Series against the Braves. He’s arbitration-eligible next season.

“We were having active discussions [about the roster] when we found out about the injury,” general manager James Click said. “So I don't think I have a yes or no answer to that question. We all saw how good he was last year in the playoffs. One of the things we talked about with this roster was the priority of having postseason experience and guys who have been there before and been under the lights. What Phil did under the lights last year was very, very impressive. So he is somebody that has been a big part of this team and will continue to be so.”

Maton allowed four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings in his final four outings of the season. He had lowered his ERA to sub-4.00 with 12 scoreless outings prior to that and was eyeing a sub-3.50 ERA to end the season before allowing two runs Wednesday.

“Even last month when I had a 4.00 ERA, I was having a really good last month and tried to put my body in a good position to be ready for the posteason and have my best stuff for this time of the year,” Maton said. “I think ... the most frustrating part about it is I think I was throwing the ball really well, I was in a really good position -- getting that last outing of the year where I had a 3.50 [ERA] and had an opportunity to get it under that. I was selfish. Coming out of the game knowing I was going to be around 4.00 after a hard month of work, no excuses for what I did.”