Cardinals Announce Starting Pitchers for Pirates Series, Including Quinn Mathews

The St. Louis Cardinals' starting rotation has been extremely thin, to say the least.

That's why the club rolled with a bullpen day on Thursday, rather than utilizing a typical starter. Gordon Graceffo took the hill and delivered for the Cardinals. Graceffo made just the second start of his big league career to this point and tossed three no-hit innings while striking out four batters. After dropping the first two games of the Baltimore Orioles series, this was exactly what the Cardinals needed.

From there, the bullpen carried the rest of the day with Justin Bruihl, Luis Gastélum, Caleb Ferguson, George Soriano and Riley O'Brien all getting into the action. Now, of course, the bullpen is going to be thin heading into a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cardinals will be right back in the action on Friday night. On Thursday, the Cardinals promoted Cade Winquest, but he didn't get into the action. So, it would make sense to see him on Friday.

Until Andre Pallante is able to be activated off the Injured List, there's going to be a lot of scrambling in the rotation. But the club did announce its starters for the Pirates series and it should be smoother than the Orioles series.

Friday — Quinn Mathews

Aug 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Quinn Mathews (60) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mathews has three big league starts under his belt so far this season and will make his fourth on Friday. So far, two of his starts were very solid and one was bad. His last time out, Mathews allowed seven runs in five innings against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Pirates will counter with young righty Jared Jones.

Saturday — Kyle Leahy

Aug 18, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Leahy (62) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Leahy has been the Cardinals' best overall starting pitcher this season and has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in general over the last few months. Right now, Leahy has a 3.13 ERA in 25 starts for the Cardinals.

Sunday — Matthew Liberatore

Aug 25, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Matthew Liberatore (32) receives a new baseball after giving up a solo home run to Baltimore Orioles third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand (not pictured) during the third inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Liberatore has had a tough season to this point. The lefty has a 5.44 ERA in 26 starts. Unfortunately, not what he or the club likely was expecting from the 2026 season. Liberatore's last outing came on Aug. 25 against the Orioles. That day, the lefty allowed eight earned runs in four innings pitched. This was a step in the wrong direction after two straight solid outings.

On the bright side, at least the Cardinals have their starters announced for the series already. For the Orioles series, Graceffo wasn't announced as the starter for the series finale until Thursday.

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