Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Southpaw Quietly Becoming One Of MLB's Most Dominant LHPs

St. Louis has a young and talented hurler in its rotation
Nate Hagerty|
Sep 17, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (52) pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Sep 17, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (52) pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have opened the door for several youngsters to gain more playing time this season and are seeing positive results 29 games into their 2025 season.

For instance, the Cardinals moved catcher Willson Contreras to first base after parting ways with fan favorite Paul Goldschmidt over the offseason, allowing Iván Herrera to see more innings behind the plate and emerge as one of St. Louis' most prolific hitters -- before succumbing to a knee injury.

Herrera isn't the only young Cardinals asset making a name for himself this year. A former Tampa Bay Rays first-round draft pick is quietly developing into one of Major League Baseball's top left-handed starting pitchers as a member of St. Louis' rotation.

"Top 10 Left-Handed Starting Pitchers," Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter wrote Tuesday, outlining his perspective of the league's top 10 players at each position. "1. Andrew Heaney, Pittsburgh Pirates 2. Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox 3. Jesús Luzardo, Philadelphia Phillies 4. Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers 5. MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals 6. Max Fried, New York Yankees 7. Nick Lodolo, Cincinnati Reds 8. Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals 9. Jose Quintana, New York Mets 10. Matthew Liberatore, STL."

Liberatore has posted a 2-2 record with a 3.19 ERA, 28-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .235 batting average against and a 0.97 WHIP in 31 innings pitched across five appearances for the Cardinals this season.

Since being traded from Tampa Bay in Jan. 2020, along with C Edgardo Rodriguez, to St. Louis in exchange for 1B Jose Martinez and All-Star Randy Arozarena, Liberatore has been used as a reliever and starter.

However, going into this season, the Cardinals rotation had plenty of room with Sonny Gray being the ace, Erick Fedde as the No. 2 and the remaining spots up for grabs between Miles Mikolas, who has greatly underachieved during his time in St. Louis, 26-year-old Andre Pallante and possibly Steven Matz, whom the team has effectively chosen to use out of the bullpen.

Mikolas, Fedde and Matz will become free agents this upcoming offseason, so the Cardinals decided to include Liberatore in the rotation this year, hoping to find a reliable starting pitcher for the franchise's uncertain future.

So far, the 25-year-old is adjusting well to the Cardinals rotation after recording only six starts of 60 appearances with the club last season. Despite Gray's stellar performance this year, one could argue that Liberatore looks more like the team's ace in 2025. It's exciting to see the young buck dominating and hopefully, he finishes this campaign strongly.

More MLB: Cardinals Promote Ex-Reds Top Prospect Before Monday's Cincinnati Series Opener

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Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu 

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