Since the Redbirds arrived in Memphis in 1998, no position has proved more fruitful for the parent St. Louis Cardinals than starting pitching. It started with lefty phenom Rick Ankiel, the 1999 Minor League Player of the Year and runner-up the next season for National League Rookie of the Year with the Cardinals. (Not all young pitchers grow into old pitchers. We won’t rehash Ankiel’s struggles here.) Dan Haren, Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha, Jack Flaherty, and Dakota Hudson are eight more examples of Redbird hurlers who became rotation regulars in the big leagues. And it appears the next big arm on its way north is that of southpaw Matthew Liberatore.
Over a pair of starts in late April, the 22-year-old Liberatore showed fans in Memphis and Durham what the Cardinals hope to see in St. Louis in the near future. In a home start against Omaha on April 23rd, Liberatore tossed seven scoreless innings, struck out nine, allowed but two hits, and walked nary a batter. Six days later against the Bulls, he tossed another scoreless seven, struck out seven, walked three, and allowed only four hits. Particularly against the Storm Chasers, Liberatore commanded the strike zone with his low-to-mid nineties heat, going to a three-ball count on only one hitter. It was dominance, the kind St. Louis needs to see before Liberatore makes his major league debut. (Liberatore fell back to earth last Friday at AutoZone Park, allowing six runs and nine hits in five-and-two-thirds innings against Jacksonville.)
Liberatore is a significant piece of the Cardinals’ future, in part because of how he joined the franchise. On January 9, 2020, St. Louis traded Randy Arozarena to the Tampa Bay Rays for a package of players highlighted by Liberatore, the 16th pick in the 2018 draft. Arozarena helped Memphis win the 2018 Pacific Coast League championship (hitting a pair of home runs in the clincher at AutoZone Park), but gained national fame when he helped the Rays to the 2020 World Series (in which he hit three home runs) then won the American League’s Rookie of the Year award in 2021. All of that on one side of the trade, while Liberatore has yet to take the mound in a big-league stadium.
The Cardinals’ rotation will need Liberatore soon. Wainwright is now 40 years old, on the verge of setting a record for career starts as a battery with Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina. Flame-throwing Jordan Hicks is occupying another rotation slot, but has battled arm injuries for the better part of four years now. Veteran Miles Mikolas has pitched like he’s healthy for the first time since 2019, and newly acquired Steven Matz won three of his first four decisions as the only current lefty in the St. Louis rotation. Hudson is back after missing most of 2021 following Tommy John surgery. If any member of this quintet should fall out of the saddle, look for Matthew Liberatore to become the latest Memphis starter to cross the Mighty Miss.
• Redbirds second-baseman Nolan Gorman — he turns 22 Tuesday and is a childhood friend of Liberatore’s — had an April unlike any player in franchise history. He shattered the Redbirds record for home runs in the month with 11 and enjoyed a 16-game hitting streak, merely four shy of the club record (established in 1999 by Adam Kennedy). Gorman’s performance earned him International League Player of the Month honors. With the Cardinals struggling to score consistently in the early season, why isn’t Gorman in St. Louis? In two words: free agency. The longer St. Louis delays Gorman’s MLB debut, the later he becomes a free agent, capable of departing for the highest bidder in the market. As a left-handed slugger, Gorman could get a share of the designated-hitter workload with the Cardinals (the DH is a new, permanent addition to National League baseball). And if Cardinal shortstop Paul DeJong’s hitting woes continue, Gorman may fill the second-base void if former Redbird (and 2021 Gold Glove winner) Tommy Edman moves from second to short.
• Triple-A baseball will host the first “Triple Championship Weekend” this fall in Las Vegas. Division winners in the International League will compete for a title on Friday, September 30th. (Memphis competes in the West Division of the IL.) Then division winners in the Pacific Coast League will play on Saturday, October 1st. The two league champs will square off on October 2nd for the Triple-A national championship. Memphis has not played a postseason game since winning the Triple-A crown in 2018.
