Cardinals' Matthew Liberatore finally given a consistent role as a starting pitcher

For the last three years, the St. Louis Cardinals have jockeyed left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore around more than a suitcase in a busy airport.

Liberatore, who was a top starting pitching prospect in all of baseball as recently as 2021, has not been given a specific role while with the Cardinals. He went from being a starter to a reliever to a spot starter and back to a reliever over the last three years. This inconsistency is what has led his career numbers to be simply adequate.

Matthew Liberatore boasts a career 4.99 ERA across 182.1 professional innings. He has started 24 of his 91 appearances, and he reached a career-high 86 innings in 2024. Those numbers don't scream "fifth starter," but a deeper look should reveal his true potential.

In 2022, Liberatore appeared in nine games with seven starts, and he threw 34.2 innings. His ERA was 5.97. In 2023, he made 22 appearances with 11 starts, and he threw 61.2 innings with a 5.25 ERA. Last year, Liberatore appeared in 60 games with only six starts and 86 innings. His ERA was a career-best 4.40.

While being a reliever has been beneficial for the 25-year-old southpaw, consistency seems to be the best antidote to Libby's issues. When given a consistent role and enough time to prepare for said role, Matthew Liberatore has been able to find success.

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 go work on something and they come back as dialed in as Libby, and making the most of every opportunity? He earned that flat-out, and I wanted him to have the ability to go into St. Louis knowing that he’s a starter and not the back and forth," said manager Oli Marmol. "This isn’t a tryout of a couple of 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 to be a starter, and he took control of the situation. He allowed only three earned runs over 16.2 innings for a 1.62 ERA, and he struck out nine batters. While Libby only "started" one game in spring, he was able to throw 71 pitches in his final outing on March 22nd.

I have been adamant all offseason that Matthew Liberatore should remain a reliever; it's where he's thrived as a major leaguer thus far. However, now is the time to see if Libby can fulfill his prospect pedigree and become a mid-rotation starting pitcher. If he can, he provides far more value for the team both now and in the future.

While Michael McGreevy had an arguably better spring, Oli Marmol opted to place Liberatore in the rotation instead. Liberatore is entering his third full year in the majors. If the team wants to see what they have in the former first-round pick, now is the time. McGreevy, another first-rounder, has plenty of time left still; he'll instead be used as a safety valve pitcher in case a starter in the majors gets injured out of the gate.

While Oli Marmol and John Mozeliak are the two main figureheads when it comes to roster construction, Chaim Bloom may have had a say in this decision. Bloom will supplant Mozeliak as the club's president of baseball operations after the 2025 season. He will reap the benefits (or downfalls) of the performances of various players this year.

It's also important to note that Bloom is the person who drafted Matthew Liberatore back in 2018 when the former was the Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations. There's a non-zero chance that Bloom wanted Liberatore to return to being a starting pitcher prior to him taking over the baseball operations job, something Bernie Miklasz and Katie Woo discussed on a recent episode of Cardinal Territory.

Matthew Liberatore earned a starting spot with his strong spring. Now, with a consistent role and guaranteed playing time, he has the chance to become a legitimate starting pitcher. 2025 is his chance to make the most of his potential. I, for one, hope he does.