Cardinals' Matthew Liberatore Red Flag Exposed Over Last 6 Starts

The St. Louis Cardinals need to find a way to get Matthew Liberatore back on track.

May 31, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (32) walks off the field after he was removed from the game against the Chicago Cubs during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The vast majority of the noise around the St. Louis Cardinals recently has been overtly positive and it is how it should be.

St. Louis is eight games above .500 at 39-31 and looks like a potential legit playoff team right now. The Cardinals currently have the No. 1 National League Wild Card spot and should be able to maintain this momentum. Overall, the Cardinals play a good brand of baseball and have given themselves a shot to win pretty much every night with solid pitching, very good defense, and a young and exciting offense. The vast majority of the noise around the team has been positive because this is one of the best overall teams in baseball right now.

While this is the case, they could be even better. For example, Matthew Liberatore has been struggling recently for St. Louis.

Liberatore got the start for St. Louis on Opening Day but he has been ice-cold lately to the point that he actually has the worst ERA in the Cardinals' rotation right now at 4.71. Michael McGreevy has the best ERA at 2.99 followed by Dustin May at 3.75, Andre Pallante at 3.88 and then Kyle Leahy at 4.64.

The Cardinals Need To Fix Matthew Liberatore

Jun 6, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (32) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Liberatore has a 5.65 ERA over his last six starts and it has clearly exposed an issue with the big lefty: his command.

The 26-year-old pitched more than five innings just once over his last six outings and that was on May 31. That day, he pitched 5 1/3 innings against the Chicago Cubs. He pitched five innings exactly twice over his last six starts. Three times over his last six starts he failed to complete five innings, including his last two starts. That's not going to cut it. He logged multiple walks in four of those five starts as well. He had three straight starts with two walks from May 13 through May 25. Simply put, he's not commanding the zone. Because of this, he's throwing a lot of pitches and isn't able to get deep into games. Plus, it doesn't help that he's allowed three runs or more in five of his last six starts.

Liberatore has all of the talent in the world, but these last six starts have put a spotlight on a legit command issue with the lefty. The Cardinals have fortunately been able to win a lot of games this season, but this is an issue they need to find a solution for.