New Tigers Nick Maton and Matt Vierling are no longer Phillies, but their friendships endure

CLEARWATER, Fla. — In early January, Bryson Stott was at his cousin’s wedding in Louisiana when he got a call from his friend and Phillies teammate, Bryce Harper.

“Did you see the trade we made?” Harper asked.

“No,” Stott answered.

“Guess,” Harper said.

“Is it me?” Stott asked.

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“No,” Harper said. “I wouldn’t be calling you if it was you. Someone else would be calling you.”

Stott thought about it more, then started naming his some of his closest friends.

“Is it [Alec] Bohm?”

“Nope.”

“Is it [Brandon] Marsh?”

“Nope.”

“Is it [Nick] Maton?”

“Yep,” Harper said. “And there’s one more.”

“[Matt] Vierling?”

“Yep,” Harper said.

Stott was shocked. Maton, in particular, was a staple of the Phillies clubhouse, known for keeping the mood light with his frequent and ferocious barking. But while Stott was sad that his friends were leaving for another organization, he knew they would each have a better opportunity in Detroit.

That was the general sentiment among his teammates. When word spread of the five-player trade that sent Maton, Vierling and catcher Donny Sands to the Tigers for reliever Gregory Soto and utilityman Kody Clemens, the reaction was bittersweet, which made their reunion on Friday all the sweeter.

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Standing on the dirt behind home plate at BayCare Ballpark before a Phillies-Tigers Grapefruit League game, Marsh stopped mid-conversation as he locked eyes with Vierling in the visitor’s dugout.

“Look at him smiling over there,” Marsh said. “That beautiful-looking human!”

He sprinted over and gave Vierling and Maton hugs. As Maton walked away to start stretching, Marsh called back at him.

“Hey, Wolfie,” he said, using Maton’s nickname. “We’re barking today. You better bring it.”

Maton grinned.

“Everyone can go home,” he shot back. “All the vibes are gone now that I’m not in that clubhouse.”

One of the first pieces of advice Stott received when he was drafted in 2019 was to not get too close to his minor league teammates because they could be traded at any moment. But in the age of cellphones and social media, staying in touch is less of an issue. And Stott, Maton and Vierling — who were all together at triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2021 — have certainly stayed in touch.

Maton said he talks to his former teammates almost every day. He and Vierling are still in a group chat with current and former members of the Phillies’ Day Care: Scott Kingery, Bohm, Marsh, Stott and more.

On Thursday night, Maton FaceTimed Marsh, who was with backup catcher Garrett Stubbs, Kingery and first baseman Rhys Hoskins on a nearby golf course.

“I told them I’m coming,” Maton said. “I’m playing third. They’re going to be all in my ear, but I don’t care. I’m going to love it. I’m going to bark right back at them.”

Unfortunately for Maton, he gave them plenty of reasons to bark. He went 0-for-2 on Friday, with a strikeout and a walk, and was caught stealing. After whiffing in the third inning, Bohm howled at him from the dugout. After J.T. Realmuto nailed Maton at second base on a steal attempt in fourth, Stubbs gave him the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag.

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“If we didn’t have a game today, Wolf and I would have lunch out in center field,” Marsh said. “But today, he’s the enemy. We’re going to go to war.”

Vierling had a better day, going 3-for-3 with a home run. As a more calming presence in the Phillies clubhouse last year, he got less grief from his former teammates on Friday. But the experience of returning to Clearwater was a little jarring for him, too.

When Vierling and Maton arrived at BayCare Ballpark that morning, they realized they had no idea where to park. They were used to parking in the Phillies’ lot.

“Are you guys players?” a security guard asked them.

“Yeah,” Vierling said. “We’ve just never been on this side before.”

They’ll get used to it, just like their former Phillies teammates will get used to a quieter clubhouse, with far less barking. But make no mistake: That bond isn’t going anywhere.

“Obviously, it’ll be different not playing with them,” Maton said. “But we’ll still be friends for pretty much the rest of our lives, I’m thinking.”

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