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Reason #2: His Velocity is up
Dating back to Spring Training, Cardinals Manager Oli Marmol has applauded the strides that Liberatore has made:
#STLCards manager Oli Marmol on LHP Matthew Liberatore today: “That's the best I've ever seen him. The fastball had (velocity) & vertical break on it — as high as we've seen. The breaking ball, he landed 82% of the time with a 60% whiff rate. That’s as impressive as I've seen.”
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) March 18, 2023
In the 2022 season, Liberatore averaged 93.7 MPH on his 4-seam Fastball and 92.8 MPH on his Sinker. On Saturday night for AAA Memphis, Liberatore's average 4-seam velocity was 94.4 MPH and his average Sinker velocity was 94.7 MPH. He has consistently hovered around the 94-95 MPH range while throwing some as high as 98 MPH.
Velocity alone is not the sole determinant of a pitcher's success. But his increased velocity supplemented with an already nasty off-speed arsenal sets him up well for Big League success. Time will tell if Liberatore can locate his fastball at the Major League level and not leave it up in the zone for hitters to mash.