MLB Rumors: Luis Garcia injury, Aaron Boone hot seat, Cardinals move

MLB Rumors: What are the Cardinals waiting for?

St. Louis, much like the Yankees, is another team off to a tough start in 2023. Namely, their starting rotation hasn’t performed up to par, which anyone outside of the Cards front office could have predicted this winter.

Rather than make a move for one of the top starters on the free-agent market, the Cardinals stood pat, and now that choice has come back to bite them. Adam Wainwright is on his way back, however, and St. Louis has more reinforcements in the minor leagues than you might think.

Matthew Liberatore, for one, is leading the minor leagues in innings pitched and has some impressive advanced metrics which warrant a call-up.

Liberatore has pitched to some of his career-best numbers, including FIP, K/9 and BB/9, as Redbird Rants Henry Fritzgerald points out:

“We can guess that Oli Marmol, John Mozeliak, and other decision-makers in St. Louis are aware of Liberatore’s improvement in these key categories. The big question: when he is called back up to St. Louis will these metrics translate against Big League hitters in Big League parks?”

That’s a tough question to answer without witnessing Liberatore pitch in person, but the Cardinals will never know unless they make the call. Liberatore is 23 years old, and his velocity is up across the board. He’s atop the organization’s minor-league depth chart, and is likely next man up should someone in the MLB level pitching staff suffer an injury.

But at 10-19, is that something that is really worth waiting on?