Cardinals Shut Down 25-Year-Old Before Final Start Of 2025

The St. Louis Cardinals made a last-second decision for the starting rotation.

On Friday, the Cardinals announced that they are shutting down 25-year-old starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore for the final weekend of the season. On top of this, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared that Kyle Leahy is an option to replace the lefty for a final start this season.

"The Cardinals rearranged their starting pitchers for one last weekend fling at Wrigley Field, and in doing so gave a glimpse of what they’ve learned about candidates for next year’s rotation – and what they still want (or need) to see," Goold said. "Miles Mikolas will make his final start of the season and perhaps his final start as a Cardinal on Friday afternoon against the Cubs.

The St. Louis Cardinals are shutting down Matthew Liberatore

Sep 21, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (52) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

"Michael McGreevy will move his scheduled start up a day from the finale Sunday to Saturday, and that means he replaces lefty Matthew Liberatore. He is not scheduled to start in the series. The Cardinals are waiting to announce a starter for Sunday, though if available they could turn to Kyle Leahy, a reliever all season who the Cardinals want to prepare to be a starter entering 2026."

Leahy is a very interesting guy to watch this weekend, if he does in fact get the start on Sunday. Leahy has been phenomenal for the Cardinals all season out of the bullpen. He's appeared in 61 games and has a 3.18 ERA to show for it to go along with a 79-to-28 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 85 innings pitched. There's been some chatter about how Leahy could be a candidate for the 2026 starting rotation all season and this could be viewed as another sign of the that possibility, as Goold noted.

It was reported earlier in the week that Sonny Gray could be open to waiving his no-trade clause and leaving this offseason. Liberatore and McGreevy seem like the only two guaranteed options for 2026 with Mikolas heading to free agency and Andre Pallante having a rough season. Getting Leahy into the mix would be a solid for the rotation with another option down in the minors being Quinn Matthews. It could be a very young starting rotation in 2026.

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