Central STL News

Matthew Liberatore, a left-handed pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, showed promise early in his start against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. He struck out the side in the first inning and allowed only one flyout to center through three innings, keeping his fastball velocity high and appearing dominant.

However, as has happened in previous outings, Liberatore's pitch velocity declined after the third inning. The game took a turn in the fourth when he allowed three consecutive Colorado batters to reach base. His four-seam fastball dropped from 95.4 mph earlier in the game to as low as 92.3 mph during this stretch, according to Baseball Savant data. This drop was followed by a 108.4 mph single from Ezequiel Tovar and a long home run by Hunter Goodman, marking a pivotal moment in both Liberatore’s outing and the Cardinals’ eventual 3-0 loss.

“It was great until it wasn’t,” Liberatore said following the defeat, which included a 41-minute rain delay before play began.

By his 13th pitch of the fifth inning, Liberatore’s fastball had bottomed out at 91.7 mph. He finished with an average fastball velocity of 93.6 mph for the game—slightly below his season average of 94.1 mph over 22 starts (6-10 record). Reflecting on his performance, Liberatore said: “I felt awesome though the first three innings, and then [velocity] dropped again and guys started taking better swings... I feel bad that I keep putting it on the bullpen and they keep having to come in and pick me up, and they’ve done a fantastic job of that. But that’s not who I want to be.”

Liberatore spent most of last season working out of the bullpen after inconsistent results as a starter in prior years. In relief roles during 2024 he set a personal best with 86 innings pitched across 54 appearances and six spot starts, which helped him maintain higher velocity due to shorter outings.

After returning to starting duties for the Cardinals this year, he opened with a strong performance—posting a solid ERA over his first set of starts—but recent games have been more challenging as his ERA climbed significantly over five outings where he failed to complete more than four-and-a-third innings each time.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol commented on efforts to manage Liberatore’s workload: “You’re looking at him taking that break of almost two weeks and the workload of building back into that is appropriate... He lost velo [against the Dodgers on Aug. 6], but he was able to hold it for an extra 25 or 30 pitches to around 70. So, that’s a good thing, but you want him to get through five or six innings.”

Despite these struggles with stamina deep into games, Liberatore insists fatigue is not an issue; he has increased workouts between starts focused on maintaining leg and arm strength but admitted watching radar gun readings during games.

Looking ahead, Liberatore expressed hope about remaining in the starting rotation: “I don’t know if there’s anything I’ve ever wanted to do more than be a big league starter,” he said. “So, I don’t know if I could want [to be a reliever] anymore.”