St Louis Cardinals: Matthew Liberatore playing with Olympic team

The 2020 Olympics are happening this summer and the St Louis Cardinals are going to be represented by Matthew Liberatore.

One aspect of the mess that was 2020 that isn’t talked about a ton is the cancellation of the summer Olympics. For the first time since 2008, baseball is included in the games and while the 2020 Olympics are happening in 2021, it will surely be exciting to see how the United States stack up.

With the Olympics scheduled to begin in Tokyo on July 23 later this summer, qualifying games are soon beginning for baseball.

Ahead of this first round of games, USA Baseball has announced the roster for the team that will represent the United States.

The main name here that St Louis Cardinals fans will recognize is the team’s No. 1 prospect, Matthew Liberatore. Liberatore is eligible to play on the national team because he isn’t on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster yet.

Liberatore, 21, has been pitching at AAA Memphis so far this year and has hit some struggles, but is working through it. He is one name that the team mentioned early in spring would be in play for a callup late in the year, but honestly, I have no idea which team would be a higher priority.

The Olympic baseball only lasts from July 27 to August 7, but the qualifiers happening before could disrupt Liberatore’s schedule. If the Cardinals needed (or wanted) Liberatore on the Major League roster before his time with the National team was done, that could be a sticky situation. Clearly though, playing in the Olympics is a chance of a lifetime opportunity.

As you can see in the roster above, Liberatore is joining many former Cardinals on the team. Matt Wieters, Jon Jay, Mark Rzepczynski, and Edwin Jackson are all former Cardinals.

There are some other exciting names on the roster too, but it will be fun to see baseball in the Olympics again with some familiar faces.