Tag Archives: Matthew Liberatore

July 5, 2025

Games of the Day

The Cardinals send Matthew Liberatore against Drew Pomeranz and the Cubs. Liberatore pitches in the midst of his best season so far, allowing just seven home runs and 17 walks in 92 1/3 innings. Pomeranz allowed just one run, unearned, in his first 23 1/3 innings this season. The opposition managed just 14 hits against him.

Nick Lodolo and the Reds take on Ranger Suarez and the Phillies. Lodolo walked just 20 batters in 94 2/3 innings, but leads the majors in hit batters with eleven. Suarez owns a 2.00 ERA in 72 innings, with just five home runs allowed. He walked 17 batters, hitting just one.

Finally Framber Valdez starts against Shohei Ohtani as the Astros visit the Dodgers. Valdez goes for his tenth win, which would mark five straight seasons of him reach double digitis. Ohtani extended himself to two innings in his last start, and allowed three hits and a walk in his four innings.

Enjoy!

May 24, 2025

Games of the Day

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The Diamondbacks continue their series with the Cardinals as Merrill Kelly takes on Matthew Liberatore. The Yankees roughed up Kelly early in the season, but since that game he owns a 2.02 ERA in eight starts covering 49 innings. He allowed just three home runs in that time frame. Liberatore’s conversion to a starter paid off as his ERA of 2.92 and all his three true outcomes would be the best single season marks of his career. He is keeping the ball in park better than ever.

Colin Rea of the Cubs takes on Andrew Abbott and the Reds in Cincinnati. Rea is another pitcher who found success by keeping the ball in the park. He greatly increased his use of his four-seam fastball, which made his now seldom seen other pitches more effective. Abbott owns a 1.80 ERA in 35 innings. He 43 K led to just 24 hits against him.

Enjoy!

May 12, 2025

Games of the Day

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The Cardinals visit the Phillies with Matthew Liberatore facing Cristopher Sanchez. Liberatore lowered his ERA over 1.3 runs compared to last year as he allowed a .305 slugging percentage, down from .422. Sanchez raised his K rate to 10.61 per nine innings, the highest single season mark of this career.

Paul Skenes visits Queens as the Pirates take on David Peterson and the Mets. Skenes showed wildness in his last two starts, walking eight batters in eleven innings, leading to a 4.09 ERA. Peterson did a good job of stopping the running game so far. The only base stealing attempt against him failed, and he picked off another runner.

Finally, Michael Wacha leads the Royals against the Astros and Ryan Gusto. Wacha held batters to just two home runs in 45 1/3 innings. That 0.40 per 9 IP, fourth best in the AL. The rookie Gusto has a lot going for him with a 2.93 ERA in 27 2/3 innings. He’s striking out over three times as many batters as he walks.

I wonder what beer he drinks?

May 6, 2025

Games of the Day

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The Phillies visit the Rays with Zack Wheeler facing Drew Rasmussen. Six innings from Wheeler today would put him at the top of the IP leaderboard for 2025. He ranks third in innings pitched post COVID. Rasmussen induced four double plays in ten DP opportunities.

The Giants send struggling veteran Justin Verlander against the Cubs and Colin Rea. Verlander is pitching a bit better than his ERA, but allowed a .393 BA with runners in scoring position. Rea did not allow a run in 5 2/3 innings as a reliever, and his one home run allowed came in 19 1/3 innings as a starter.

Paul Skenes leads the Pirates against Matthew Liberatore. Skenes is not blowing away batters like he did in his rookie year. His K per 9 IP dropped from 11.50 to 8.65. Liberatore’s 3.44 ERA would be the best single season mark of his career. He brought down both his OBP and Slugging percentage allowed to .248/.331.

Enjoy!

May 22, 2022

Early Injury

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Steven Matz started an early afternoon game for the Cardinals, but left after just four pitches with shoulder stiffness:

Matz had spent time on the New York Mets’ disabled list in 2016 and in 2020 with left shoulder discomfort. Rondon was called on immediately to replace Matz in the game.
StLToday.com

This might help Matthew Liberatore, who made his debut on Saturday but was sent down. The Cardinals are doing okay. They gave a number of their regulars the day off, and still lead the Pirates 7-0 in the second inning.

Update: The runs kept coming as the Cardinals win 18-4. The Pirates did not score until the bottom of the ninth, when Yadier Molina came on to pitch.. Albert Pujols came on as a PH/DH and hit two home runs.

January 10, 2020

Completed Trade

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The Rays and Cardinals swapped prospects and picks as they completed a four-player trade:

The Cardinals acquired 20-year-old pitcher Matthew Liberatore, one of the best young left-handers in the minors, and a minor-league catcher from Tampa Bay on Thursday night in exchange for outfielders Jose Martinez, the Cardinals’ top bat off the bench, and Randy Arozarena. The two teams also swapped competitive balance picks in the upcoming draft. Liberatore, the 16th overall pick in the 2018 draft, is a friend and former teammate of Cardinals’ prospect Nolan Gorman, and this fall Baseball America ranked the 6-foot-6 pitcher as the fifth-best lefty prospect. He could start the year as a top 30 prospect overall.
StLToday.com

The catcher is Edgardo Rodriguez. He will play 2020 as a 19 year old, and has very little professional experience. He has hit well in his limited time, but at this point he is a bit on an unknown.

Liberatore is only plays 2020 as a 20 year old. He’s allowed just two home runs in 111 professional innings. His height means that batters have less time to react to the ball than usual, as he releases it closer to the plate.

Jose Martinez is a good hitter who is old. He did not reach the majors until seasonal age 27, and his drop off in 2019 at age 30 might be the start of his decline.

Randy Arozarena, however, is hitting his prime. He got a cup of coffee in 2019 at seasonal age 24, and went six for 20 with two walks. He hit .292/.379/.466 in two seasons at AAA, so he looks like he’ll get on base with some pop.

So the Rays get two players that improve their team right now, while the Cardinals get two who might form a long-term battery in a couple of seasons.