These pitchers' Stuff+ metrics should make Cardinals fans giddy

The St. Louis Cardinals are expected to reach their nadir in 2026. With the team embarking on a full teardown, few people are predicting the Cardinals to finish higher than fourth in the NL Central, and many projections have them residing in the cellar. Prior to spring training, it appeared there was precious little to be excited about for the upcoming season, but a few of the team's starting pitchers have turned heads. Their performance may not be a mirage, as The Athletic's Eno Sarris pointed out in his recent article (subscription required) mentioning the top spring training starting pitchers by Stuff+.

Matthew Liberatore and Richard Fitts are among spring training's Stuff+ leaders.

Liberatore is tied for fifth in Stuff+ among starters this spring who have thrown at least 100 pitches, at 118, with 100 being average. Fitts is right behind him, at 117. So far this spring, Liberatore has allowed three runs in 10 innings and struck out 14 batters. Fitts' stats have not been nearly as impressive, with eight hits and four earned runs in 4.2 innings, but, as Sarris illustrated, his numbers under the hood are exciting.

Liberatore is fresh off of a performance where he forced 16 swings and misses, one off of a career high but in far fewer pitches. According to Sarris' article, Liberatore has added velocity and is getting more drop on his slider. Liberatore is expected to start for the Cardinals on Opening Day, and after he started strong but faltered down the stretch in 2025, the Cardinals are looking for him to front their rotation and deliver an effective full season.

Fitts has also increased his velocity, and he is looking to snag the final spot in the Cardinals rotation. The Cardinals acquired Fitts in the trade that sent Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox, and it seems that new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom knew what he was doing, as the team may have unlocked some of Fitts' talent after he threw 45 mediocre innings in 2025, holding a 5.00 ERA.

Although he wasn't on Sarris' top 10 list, new Cardinals starting pitcher Dustin May also received a shoutout in the article, with Sarris mentioning that May's velocity is up nearly 3 mph and he has better ride on his four-seam fastball. May was excellent in his five seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers when he was healthy, but he was out for extended periods after Tommy John surgery and a flexor strain, not to mention the freak esophagus injury that sidelined him for 2024. So far in spring, May has shown flashes of his old form, and if he can sustain that through the first half of the regular season, the Cardinals may be able to trade him and notch a strong return.

The hope among Cardinals fans was that Bloom and the new development team would help their pitching pipeline hum again, but the turnaround appears to be happening more swiftly than many envisioned. After years of the Cardinals attempting to tread water, the team finally has a direction, and the pitching could lead the way.