Matthew Liberatore’s growth offers hope for Cardinals’ thin rotation
It took until the eve of the regular season for the St. Louis Cardinals to finalize their plan for Matthew Liberatore, but the payoff for both the pitcher and his team has been his firm establishment as a major league starter, even amid the expected ups and downs of the year.
Manager Oli Marmol confirmed from his office at Wrigley Field on Friday that Liberatore will be shut down for the remainder of the season, with what would have been his final start this weekend replaced by a bullpen game on Sunday featuring Kyle Leahy.
“He’s done a tremendous job this year,” Marmol said of the left-hander. “His last outing was exactly what we needed to see, especially with the overall workload and how it sets him up for next year. For him to bounce back and have [velocity] at 97, 98 mph—he showed exactly what he needed to show. Throwing an extra game on him at this point, after being eliminated, does not make sense.”
Liberatore finishes the season with an 8-12 record and a 4.21 ERA in 29 starts. He struck out 122 batters in 151 2/3 innings, staying healthy for the full season and making every scheduled start—though the Cardinals did adjust their rotation slightly after the All-Star break to give him extended rest.
That innings total matters because best practices for arm care across baseball suggest avoiding an increase of more than 20 percent in a pitcher’s workload year over year. That would put Liberatore in line to throw roughly 180 innings next season. Last year, he managed only 86, which means this season’s workload was nearly double—a huge leap beyond expectations.
“I think physically I’m just feeling really good right now,” Liberatore said after his final start on Sept. 21. “I definitely want to finish the year strong. I really just started to feel like I’m clicking with my routines and the processes, and what’s going to work for me moving forward.”
That confidence in his routine is important for the Cardinals, who are facing questions about pitching depth. A year of unusually good health allowed them to spare their depth starters at Triple-A Memphis—a necessity since their upper-level depth was thin. Other than the midseason swap of Erick Fedde for Michael McGreevy, the rotation remained largely unchanged, with only brief appearances by Steven Matz and Leahy, who will get a taste of starting ahead of a possible transition to that role.
As Liberatore did this season, the Cardinals expect Leahy to enter spring training in 2026 ready to compete for a rotation spot. Miles Mikolas is set to depart as a free agent this winter, and Sonny Gray told reporters Wednesday night in San Francisco that he intends to reconsider whether to waive his no-trade clause and join a team better positioned to contend soon.
Additionally, Cooper Hjerpe, Sem Robberse and Tekoah Roby each underwent Tommy John surgery this year; only Robberse had his procedure early enough that he could return to game action in 2026. As a result, little help is expected from the upper minors.
In a year, Liberatore has gone from a winter “maybe” to a spring certainty, and he is poised to enter 2026 as the Cardinals’ most established internal starting option. It is difficult to imagine the team opening next season without adding a free-agent starter, but the Cardinals went all last winter without making an outside addition before signing Phil Maton for the bullpen in spring training.
Without any new arms—and assuming Gray is traded—Liberatore, McGreevy and Andre Pallante would be the incumbent starters positioned to repeat their roles in 2026. Pallante, however, struggled for much of the season, and a move to promote Leahy could open a bullpen spot for Pallante as a long reliever, a role that may better suit him.
With a weekend of games left that mean little to the Cardinals but matter for Cubs playoff hopes, little that happens at Wrigley over three days is likely to affect next season. Liberatore being shut down—with hearty praise—is a signal of the organization’s desire to protect him and a testament to what he has earned.
No longer just escaping the shadow of a trade beyond his control, Liberatore has pitched himself into a role where, simply, the Cardinals need him badly.
“This isn’t something where you’re going to have to look over your shoulder every time out, wondering, ‘Was that good enough to stay in the rotation?’” Marmol said. “You’re going to start. And I think it allowed him to just relax and do his job.”
That job has changed a lot in the past year, and its importance will only grow from here.
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 2:24 PM.
