Matthew Liberatore to start Wednesday as Cardinals move to a six-man rotation

The Cardinals have announced that Matthew Liberatore will be starting Wednesday as the club moves to a six-man rotation

The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Tuesday evening that they are calling up left-handed pitching Matthew Liberatore to start on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, per Jim Hayes. Adam Wainwright's next start is now pushed back to Thursday.

This is a move that has been clamored for by fans for weeks now, as Liberatore has been dealing against Triple-A hitters all season and looks more than ready to help an ailing Cardinals' rotation. In 8 Triple-A starts this year, Liberatore has a 4-1 record with a 3.13 ERA and 11.0 K/9 in 46 innings of work.

Not only does the move make a ton of sense for a rotation that has been awful all year long, but the matchup plays in Liberatore's favor as well. On the season, the Brewers are slashing just .210/.278/.340 against left-handed pitching, giving the Cardinals a bit of an edge tomorrow as their own lineup has to face Corbin Burnes.

Coming into 2023, Liberatore had lost a lot of steam amongst fans, prospect gurus, and seemingly even the Cardinals' front office after a disappointing 2022 season. Liberatore made his MLB debut last year but had a 5.97 ERA across his 34.2 innings of work. Things weren't much better in Memphis, as he has a 5.17 ERA in 22 starts for the Triple-A affiliate.

There have been some noticeable improvements in Liberatore's game since last season, including increased fastball velocity, better pitch location, and his curveball producing more swing-and-miss stuff. All are recipes for better pitching.

In the meantime, the Cardinals plan to move to a six-man rotation, with no timetable given on that layout. If an injury occurs, then that will answer the question for the club, but otherwise, pitchers like Libertore and Matz may be dueling for a long-term rotation spot over the next few weeks.