Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals No. 6 Prospect Turns Heads With Blistering Fastball

The St. Louis Cardinals have plenty of young pitching at their disposal.
Patrick McAvoy|
Sep 17, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of a St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Sep 17, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of a St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinal are loaded with intriguing, young starting pitching right now.

On paper, the Cardinals' rotation looks like Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May and then some combination of Andre Pallante, Kyle Leahy, Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins. That's exciting in itself. But it isn't all. St. Louis' list of the club's top prospects is full of hurlers.

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Liam Doyle is the club's top-ranked pitching prospect at No. 2 followed by No. 4 prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje, No. 6 prospect Quinn Mathews, No. 8 prospect Brandon Clarke, No. 9 prospect Tekoah Roby, and No. 10 prospect Yhoiker Fajardo, among others. St. Louis spent the offseason adding hurlers to the organization, including Cijntje. One guy who fans shouldn't forget about is Matthews.

The Cardinals have a bright future in the rotation

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Quinn Matthews
Feb 20, 2025; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Quinn Matthews (60). Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The 25-year-old got into the club's Spring Training contest on Saturday and although he allowed two earned runs in 1 2/3 innings of work, he showed increased velocity. He came out firing on Saturday. He topped out at 96.7 miles per hour in his 1 2/3 innings of work. Matthews sat between 92 miles per hour and 94 miles per hour with his fastball in 2025, per Baseball Savant. This was a step backwards from 2024. So, the fact that Matthews was able to come out firing in his first Spring Training action of the year is impressive, to say the least.

Matthews made 24 starts in 2025 and logged a 3.73 ERA, including 22 starts with Triple-A. So, Matthews' numbers overall were solid in 2025 and yet he already showed signs of improvement when he took the mound on Saturday. Allowing the earned runs obviously isn't what you want, but Spring Training stats don't matter. What does matter is showing the club what you can do. Matthews impressed in his first outing of the spring and there is more to come.

Keep an eye on him this season, Cardinals fans. While guys like Doyle and Cijntje have been getting all of the buzz, Matthews has massive upside himself.

More MLB: Cardinals Get Much-Needed Good Hunter Dobbins News

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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