Stunning spring statistic for Matthew Liberatore should thrill Cardinals fans

It's spring training, and you know what that means: It's time to overreact. So here you go: The St. Louis Cardinals might have fixed their longtime pitching woes. Many Cardinals starting pitchers have flashed strong numbers this spring not only in the stat column but also in their arsenal and metrics. That includes Richard Fitts and Dustin May, who have displayed strong gains in their fastball velocity, and Fitts led the league's starting pitchers in Stuff+ early in the preseason.

Cardinals fans can now add Matthew Liberatore to the list of impressive spring hurlers after he delivered a five-inning, seven-strikeout performance while allowing two earned runs. The box score was respectable, but it was another number that truly leaped off of the page.

Liberatore accumulated 16 swings and misses in his five innings of work on March 9.

Although the Cardinals' opponent, the Baltimore Orioles, rolled out a lineup that was far from formidable, Liberatore's performance should still have Cardinals fans taking note. The 16 pitches that batters swung through were a high mark for any pitcher in baseball so far in spring training and just one whiff shy of Liberatore's career high of 17 — which he achieved in 99 pitches, compared with the 64 he threw in his most recent spring start.

The trade of Randy Arozarena to the Tampa Bay Rays for Liberatore was long seen as a fleece for the Rays, but Liberatore's performance throughout much of 2025 allowed the scale to tip a bit more toward the Cardinals. If he can hold these types of whiff numbers, the trade may turn into a win for both sides — something few fans expected after Arozarena went nuclear in the 2020 postseason and Liberatore seemed destined to a future in the Cardinals bullpen.

Liberatore's stats will make any Cardinals pitching guru pleased as punch and provide real hope that the team is on the right track in terms of unlocking young talent. As is well known by now, the Cardinals fell far behind the curve in terms of pitching development over the past few seasons, eschewing the modern strikeout pitcher in favor of cheaper ground ball specialists. New president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom took over and executed a flurry of moves to stock the system with arms that could elicit swings and misses, but if Liberatore's showing was for real, that should create more enthusiasm than any recent trade did.

Liberatore's performance could signify that the Cardinals' revamped pitching development staff is doing exactly what it was hired to do. Dealing for pitchers who already own shutdown arsenals is great, but helping a pitcher like Liberatore, whom Bloom had no part in acquiring, unlock more stuff would be a massive success and mark significant progress in the Cardinals' ability to mold the next pitching star.

The Cardinals are entering 2026 with minimal expectations, but their starting pitching could turn into an unexpected weapon if these promising numbers for Liberatore and others bleed into the regular season. Don't expect the team to push for a playoff bid this year, but if the pitching can prove that it's for real, the rebuild might be closer to the finish line than anyone expected.