Cardinals May Already Have Their Next Ace Within Their System

The Cardinals could have their next star ace emerging before their eyes...

Feb 25, 2025; Dunedin, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Quinn Mathews (60) throws against the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning of a spring training game at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are rebuilding as aggressively as they have over the last 20 or 30 years. They've fully dove into the rebuild, swinging four massive trades this offseason.

They moved Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox in a pair of deals. Shortly after, they traded Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks. This week, they moved Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners in a blockbuster deal.

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Now the Cardinals will look to build their roster through the farm system. They have quite a bit of talent in their farm system, including multiple top pitchers who could be in St. Louis as early as this year.

Just Baseball's Adam Akbani recently shared a lot of high praise for one of St. Louis' top prospects Quinn Mathews. Mathews has been one of the team's top pitching prospects for the last few seasons.

Quinn Mathews has the chance to take over as the Cardinals ace

Feb 12, 2025; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Quinn Mathews throws during Spring Training. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

"Barring a complete return to his 2024 form, Quinn is almost certain to begin 2026 at Memphis, and while his command was slightly better towards the end of 2025, the peripheral data was shaky the entire season," Akbani wrote. "If he puts it all together at Triple-A, he’ll crack the big-league rotation very soon.

"He’s a mid-rotation starter on a championship-caliber team at his best, but given his clear regression last year, he currently profiles more as a back-end rotation starter (1.5-2 average WAR per season over first six years of team control)."

While Akbani believes he could be a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher, Mathews has the ceiling of an ace, and he's proven this over his two years of pro ball.

Mathews was the Cardinals' top pitching prospect a year ago, but with the addition of Liam Doyle in the 2025 MLB Draft and Jurrangelo Cijntje in the Donovan deal, Mathews has fallen to the Cardinals' No. 3 pitching prospect. Still, Mathews has a ceiling as high as either of the two ranked above him.

Still, he has ace potential. He's been excellent in his two-year professional career. When he's in and around the strike zone, there are few minor league hitters who are putting together impressive at-bats against the lefty.

If he can continue to improve his command, the lefty could quickly develop into a star in St. Louis.

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