All things considered, Nick Maton didn’t have a very interesting season. He was exactly what the prospect gurus said he would be: a slightly below average hitter and a versatile defender who played a competent enough shortstop. He came up to the majors at the exact age you would have expected him to, and he served as a replacement level backup infielder on a .500ish team.
Nevertheless, he managed to became a fan favorite this season, thanks to a combination of factors. There was his hot start, when he hit .348/.388/.457 with a 128 wRC+ for the first two weeks of his big league career.