Over the past three years, the St. Louis Cardinals have shuffled left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore around like a suitcase at a busy airport.
Once considered one of baseball’s top pitching prospects in 2021, Liberatore has yet to be assigned a steady role with the team. He has bounced between being a starter, a reliever, and a spot starter, a lack of consistency that has contributed to his middling career numbers.
Liberatore holds a career 4.99 ERA over 182.1 professional innings, with 24 starts in 91 total appearances. He logged a career-high 86 innings in 2024. While those numbers don’t immediately suggest he’s ready for a full-time rotation spot, a closer look reveals his potential.
In 2022, he pitched 34.2 innings across nine appearances (seven starts) with a 5.97 ERA. The following season, he threw 61.2 innings over 22 appearances (11 starts), posting a 5.25 ERA. Last year, he saw action in 60 games but started only six, recording a career-best 4.40 ERA across 86 innings.
Though he has found some success as a reliever, stability appears to be the key to unlocking Liberatore’s full potential. When given a defined role and the time to adjust, the 25-year-old southpaw has shown he can be an effective pitcher.
When given consistency, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Matthew Liberatore thrives. He’s being given that chance in 2025.
“But Liberatore, when you tell someone to work on something and they come back locked in like Libby, making the most of every opportunity? He earned that outright, and I wanted him to go into St. Louis knowing he’s a starter, without the back-and-forth,” said manager Oli Marmol. “This isn’t just a tryout for a few starts. He’s going to start. Don’t look over your shoulder—go be a starter, and we’ll evaluate as we go.”
Liberatore was stretched out this spring as a starter, and he seized the opportunity. Over 16.2 innings, he allowed just three earned runs for a 1.62 ERA while striking out nine batters. Though he technically started only one spring game, he built up his workload, reaching 71 pitches in his final outing on March 22.
Throughout the offseason, I strongly believed Liberatore should remain a reliever, as that’s where he’s had the most success in the majors. However, now is the time to see if he can fulfill his potential as a mid-rotation starter. If he can, his value to the team increases significantly both now and in the future.
While Michael McGreevy arguably had a better spring, Marmol chose Liberatore for the rotation. Entering his third full MLB season, Liberatore is at a pivotal point in his career. The Cardinals need to determine what they have in their former first-round pick. Meanwhile, McGreevy, another first-round selection, has more time to develop and will serve as a depth option in case of an injury.
Though Marmol and John Mozeliak are the primary decision-makers on roster construction, Chaim Bloom may have influenced this move. Set to replace Mozeliak as president of baseball operations after 2025, Bloom will directly feel the impact of this season’s roster choices. It’s also worth noting that Bloom was the executive who drafted Liberatore back in 2018 when he was Tampa Bay’s Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations. As Bernie Miklasz and Katie Woo recently discussed on Cardinal Territory, it’s possible Bloom wanted to see Liberatore return to a starting role before taking over.
Liberatore earned his spot with a strong spring. Now, with a defined role and steady playing time, he has the opportunity to prove himself as a legitimate starting pitcher. 2025 is his chance to make the most of his talent—and I hope he does.
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