Cardinals Breakout Starter Listed As Team's Biggest Success In 2025

This Cardinals starter has taken some steps forward in 2025.

Sep 15, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (52) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have fallen out of postseason contention with eight games to go on the 2025 regular season schedule. They are five games back of the New York Mets for the third National League Wild Card spot. St. Louis could still play spoiler on the San Francisco Giants next week, but there isn't much left for them to play for as far as the 2025 season is concerned.

A lot has gone wrong for St. Louis, but there have still been some bright spots this year. Some of their younger players have stepped up and taken on larger roles this season.

One such player is left-hander Matthew Liberatore, who Bradford Doolittle of ESPN lists as the Cardinals' biggest success story of 2025.

Cardinals' Matthew Liberatore Listed As Team's Biggest Success

"Well, we have to put something down. Frankly, even though the Cardinals have managed to stay around baseball's middle, this has felt like a disheartening season. With just a little boost from the front office, the low bar of postseason contention in this year's NL might have been cleared. St. Louis hasn't received much in terms of breakout performances, though some of the younger players have shown progress. That pretty much describes Liberatore, the touted prospect St. Louis acquired way back on Jan. 9, 2020, from Tampa Bay for Randy Arozarena. Until 2025, Liberatore hadn't been able to establish himself as a rotation regular, but he has made 27 starts and stayed within shouting distance of league average. His strikeout rates don't scream 'untapped upside!' but you never know," Doolittle wrote.

Liberatore has struggled a little bit in the second half, but pitched a solid game against the Cincinnati Reds in his last start, going six innings and allowing two earned runs in an 11-6 loss. In 28 starts, the 25-year-old left-hander is 7-12 with a 4.30 ERA over 146 2/3 innings of work and has recorded 116 strikeouts.

Perhaps with his first full season as a starter almost behind him, he can blossom into a star in 2026, not unlike Garrett Crochet this year, who has emerged as an ace. Liberatore could follow a similar path.

The Cardinals had used him as a reliever in 2024, but made the switch to make him a starter for 2025. It will be interesting to see how he finishes the year.

More MLB: How St. Louis Cardinals Can Still Impact NL Playoffs