Former Cardinals Pitcher of the Year discussed learning lessons from down season

The St. Louis Cardinals have focused on high-velocity right-handed pitchers since Chaim Bloom came into power, but they still have plenty of other pitchers at the upper level of the minors who can help the big league team soon.

A player that generated plenty of buzz around this time last offseason was Quinn Mathews, who was just coming off a season where he won the Cardinals' minor league Pitcher of the Year award and placed him near the top of the organization's prospect list. He turned that success into an invite to big league Spring Training, even receiving a start against a Toronto Blue Jays lineup featuring their superstar hitters. He pitched well but was the first pitcher re-assigned to minor league camp, and he spent the rest of the time working with the player development staff.

Quinn Mathews shared learning experiences from last year's struggles.

Last year, Mathews started the year in Memphis with high expectations, with many hoping to see him debut in St. Louis at some point during the season. During his interview spot at Winter Warm-Up, Mathews was asked how he handled the injury issues with his shoulder and decline in command.

When asked about how he mentally handled the difficult season, he admitted that he had to adjust his thinking when evaluating his performance. He shifted from using the word "pessimistic" to "realist" before referencing Tyler Glasnow's definition of "mound traumas" and using those for growth. As Mathews looked back at that season, he realized that if people were considering his 2025 campaign as a disappointment, it is because he performed so well the season before. He compared last year to his sophomore year of college, where he experienced more of those mound traumas, so he feels as if he is going to be able to bounce back in 2026.

Interestingly, rotation "veteran" Michael McGreevy was asked about Mathews' self-evaluation, and he agreed that the lefty was too hard on himself at times. McGreevy, with his 91 days of Major League service time, says he is Mathews' voice of reason at times because of how critical Mathews can be of his own performance.

""[Quinn} will be like, 'oh dude Greevy, I suck' and I'm like 'Quinn you just struck out 12 guys' and he's like "Yeah but I walked two"."

Michael McGreevy on Quinn Mathews

After learning a lot from jettisoned veteran Sonny Gray last year, Mathews is excited to come into this major league camp fully healthy and looking to move past last season. With a seemingly sarcastic goal of going from the first pitcher sent out of camp to making it at least to the second, Mathews has a real shot to stick around the big league facility for much of spring. The rotation has options but is largely unsettled behind the first three of Dustin May, Matthew Liberatore, and Michael McGreevy. The back of the staff figures to be a mostly wide-open competition, with favorites Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante likely holding down spots for now, but newcomers Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts can easily be in competition with them, Mathews, and others.