2023 Stats
W-L
1-1
ERA
4.91
WHIP
1.36
K
9
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Liberatore has one of the prettiest curveballs you will see in baseball. The league hit .222 off his curveball with a 35% Whiff Rate as it is his primary weapon of choice to put away hitters. The problem with Liberatore is his fastball was incredibly hittable last season as the league hit .364 against the pitch while slugging .673 off it. This is why he has struggled both at the major and upper minors since the year off in 2020 with walks, homers, and too many baserunners. The Cardinals did not even put him on the postseason roster, and he does not appear to have a shot at a spot in the rotation to start the season unless Jack Flaherty or Steven Matz break down again. It is tough to give up on someone whose velocity and movement are similar to Reid Detmers and Max Fried (according to StatCast), but he is current a distant third in that trio until something improves with his fastball. Read Past Outlooks

Role not yet determined
The Cardinals will no longer use a six-man rotation, with the fifth spot coming down to Liberatore or Steven Matz, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
The Cards shifted to a six-man rotation during a stretch of 19 games in 19 days, but they have back-to-back off days this week which will allow them to restructure the rotation again. Matz will be available in relief Monday and Tuesday, with Liberatore's potential availability out of the bullpen yet to be determined. Things certainly appear to be pointing toward Matz being moved to the bullpen for a while and Liberatore getting the fifth spot, but the team has not yet committed to that setup.
The Cards shifted to a six-man rotation during a stretch of 19 games in 19 days, but they have back-to-back off days this week which will allow them to restructure the rotation again. Matz will be available in relief Monday and Tuesday, with Liberatore's potential availability out of the bullpen yet to be determined. Things certainly appear to be pointing toward Matz being moved to the bullpen for a while and Liberatore getting the fifth spot, but the team has not yet committed to that setup.
Pitching Stats
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2023
2022
2020
2023 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log

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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
70
Last 10 Games
70
Last 5 Games
70
How many pitches does Matthew Liberatore generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Matthew Liberatore generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2021
-33%
BAA vs LHP
2023
-57%
BAA vs LHP
BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2021vs Left | .209 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 0 | |||
Since 2021vs Right | .311 | 28 | 19 | 42 | 5 | |||
2023vs Left | .111 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
2023vs Right | .258 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 0 | |||
2022vs Left | .235 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 0 | |||
2022vs Right | .327 | 19 | 13 | 34 | 5 | |||
2021vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
2021vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2021
-69%
ERA at Home
2023
-58%
ERA at Home
ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2021Home | 2.45 | 1.25 | 18.1 | 8.8 | 4.4 | ||||
Since 2021Away | 7.90 | 1.90 | 27.1 | 6.3 | 4.9 | ||||
2023Home | 3.00 | 1.33 | 6.0 | 10.5 | 6.0 | ||||
2023Away | 7.20 | 1.40 | 5.0 | 3.6 | 3.6 | ||||
2022Home | 2.19 | 1.22 | 12.1 | 8.0 | 3.6 | ||||
2022Away | 8.06 | 2.01 | 22.1 | 6.9 | 5.2 | ||||
2021Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
2021Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Stat Review
How does Matthew Liberatore compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
1.50K/9
7.4BB/9
4.9HR/9
0.0Fastball
95.5 mphERA
4.91WHIP
1.36BABIP
.290GB/FB
1.89Left On Base
60.0%Exit Velocity
79.8 mphBarrels/BBE
0.0%Spin Rate
2270 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
18.8%Swinging Strike
8.1%Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
While Liberatore's fastball is just OK, his slider has emerged as a dominant offering. The pitch got whiffs 41% of the time and was thrown for strikes 71% of the time, and that success helped the 6-foot-5 southpaw put up a strong final full season in the minors. His 124.2 innings were the 11th most in the minors and fifth most by a fantasy-relevant pitcher. He had a 4.04 ERA and 1.25 WHIP on the year, but he finished strong, logging a 2.67 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 57:17 K:BB in 57.1 innings over his final 10 starts. In addition to his low-90s fastball and plus slider, he also throws a curveball and a changeup, both of which have above-average potential. While he is not on the 40-man roster, Liberatore represents the Cardinals' clear best starter in the minors, so it seems inevitable that he will spend a portion of this season in the big-league rotation, provided he stays healthy. The Cardinals offer excellent team context (defense, ballpark, division), and while Liberatore isn't so elite that he would be a set-it-and-forget-it option, he should at least be streamable in favorable matchups.
More Fantasy News

Tagged for four runs
Liberatore (1-1) allowed four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out two across five innings Friday in a 4-3 loss to the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
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Starting Friday
Liberatore will start Friday against the Guardians at Progressive Field, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
ANALYSIS
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Will get weekend start
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Wednesday that Liberatore will start one of the team's three games this weekend in Cleveland, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Available in relief Tuesday
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Liberatore will be available in relief Tuesday night at Cincinnati, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Temporarily in bullpen
Liberatore will be available out of the bullpen against the Dodgers on Sunday but is still expected to start sometime next week if he isn't needed in relief, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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