Cardinals pitching strategy may signal a change in roles for pair of arms

The St. Louis Cardinals have continued their run of uninspiring play with yet another clunker against the surging Chicago Cubs. As Oli Marmol looks to configure his pitching staff to give the team the best chance to win, there has been a change in strategy around their struggling left-handed starter. On Tuesday, Matthew Liberatore completed less than five innings for the sixth time this season and Hunter Dobbins came on in relief to save the bullpen with 5.1 effective innings.

Even with Liberatore's ineffective season, Marmol made it clear that sending him down to the minors was not an option this year. Liberatore has failed to take advantage of an extended leash after being named the Opening Day starter, but his roster spot is not in jeopardy. However, a role change may be in order after his latest blowup and a shift to the bullpen may be in the cards for Liberatore.

Cardinals could flip the roles of Matthew Liberatore and Hunter Dobbins

Since the start of June, Matthew Liberatore is 2-5 with a 6.64 ERA, even with a pair of starts where he allowed just one run in 11 innings. In nine games, Libby has had trouble keeping the ball in the yard, giving up nine homers to go along with 17 free passes in 40.2 innings. He has kept his strikeout rate high, but he has given up plenty of hard hits to add onto the traffic from free passes, resulting in high run totals and short outings.

Hunter Dobbins is now getting the same treatment that Liberatore got in his first two seasons in the majors. In those seasons, Liberatore appeared in 31 game, 18 of them starts as the Cardinals attempted to work him into the starting rotation while also managing his workload with relief outings. The bullpen experience eventually ended and he became a full-time starter in 2025 with these mediocre results. Dobbins has been up and down from the minors multiple times while filling a starting and bullpen role.

The righty received from Boston last season has appeared in seven games, four starts, and has been effective in either role. His preference is to start and with the trade deadline approaching, he may get his opportunity regardless of what the Cardinals do with Liberatore. For the sake of both pitchers, though, it should not take a trade for the role swap to happen. Over his career, Liberatore has been far more effective as a reliever, with his ERA over one run less out of the bullpen. He has also had better command and allowed fewer hits in relief, but he was projected to be at least a mid-rotation arm during his time as a prospect.

That has not come to fruition and it may be necessary to now put him in the role he is best at. In doing so, Dobbins would be allowed his own extended runway through the end of the 2026 season while Liberatore could search to find his effectiveness in a lower-leverage relief role. Dobbins has pitched a combined 96.1 innings between the majors and minors and is 7-2 in 20 games. With his ability to fill the innings that Liberatore could not, Dobbins should be in line for a starting rotation job sooner than later.

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