STL Cardinals Rumors: Matthew Liberatore plan, Mozeliak contradicting, Tyler O’Neill trade buzz

STL Cardinals Rumors: What’s the plan now with Matthew Liberatore?

Left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore has been the No. 4 prospect in the Cardinals system for the past two seasons, but his debut in MLB a year ago did not go to plan. He made nine appearances and seven starts with St. Louis, accruing a 5.97 ERA and 1.73 WHIP along with a dismal 28/18 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 34.2 innings.

The Cards preached and practiced patience with Liberatore entering the 2023 season, though. And after dominating early in Triple-A, he made his season debut for St. Louis on Wednesday night, going toe-to-toe with Brewers ace Corbin Burnes. The 23-year-old southpaw won that battle with a gem of a performance, allowing no runs on three hits, three walks and striking out six.

For a pitching staff that hasn’t gotten what they’ve needed from starters this season, Liberatore provided a real glimmer of hope. So after that impressive debut this year, what is the plan for the young hurler?

Cardinals manager Oli Marmol spoke on that on Thursday ahead of Game 1 against the Dodgers, offering a strange answer given Liberatore’s performance, saying that he might get a start in the short-term, but could also be used out of the bullpen soon and get another start down the line.

Not only does that sound non-committal and like a non-answer when there isn’t a real plan, it also doesn’t make a bit of sense.

Though there have been some recent bounce-back performances from the likes of Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery, the fact of the matter is that none of St. Louis’ main five starters have an ERA under 4.20 this season and only two (Montgomery and Miles Mikolas) are under 5.20.

Liberatore, however, obviously provided a spark to win a series against a divisional opponent, but he’s more than earned a spot in the rotation with his work in Triple-A, especially in relation to how bad the starting pitching has been for the Cards. So to seemingly dismiss that feels like a massive mistake, particularly for a team still eight games under .500 and trying to turn things around.