The Cardinals don’t have a clean way out of the Matthew Liberatore mess, and Tuesday night only sharpened the problem.
St. Louis fell hard in a 13-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, dropping back under .500, and Liberatore took the brunt of it. The left-hander started the game and was tagged for eight runs in four innings, a rough outing that came after he had shown some promise in his previous two starts.
That kind of night would normally push a pitcher toward a different role. For most teams, the obvious move would be to pull him from the rotation and try him in the bullpen.
But the Cardinals aren’t in a position to make that easy call. They’re rebuilding, they’re drifting further from the postseason, and their pitching staff has already taken hits with Andre Pallante and Hunter Dobbins landing on the injured list.
Pallante should be back soon, but Dobbins may be done for the year.
The organization does have arms coming through the system, including prospects Liam Doyle and Jurrangelo Cijintje, but the Cardinals don’t sound ready to force them into the majors. Rushing either one would be a risky play and could thin out the system even more.
That leaves St. Louis with a pretty plain answer: keep Liberatore in the rotation. Unless the Cardinals go out and add a depth starter, he’s their best option by default because the alternatives aren’t major-league ready and two regular starters are already out.
So even after the Orioles blew things open, the direction here seems set. Liberatore is expected to stay in the rotation for the rest of the season, not slide to the bullpen and not get sent down. If the Cardinals decide to change his role, that’s something that may have to wait until 2027 at the earliest.
For now, the situation is clear, even if it isn’t pretty. The Cardinals don’t have a better move.
In Other News...
Cardinals Suddenly Have Another Third Base Concern to Watch
A new third-base wrinkle surfaced for the Cardinals when Blaze Jordan left Mondays game against the Orioles after injuring his left foot and ankle. Nolan Gorman took over at third base once Jordan was removed, giving St. Louis an immediate in-game answer, but also reminding the club how quickly the position can become a moving target.
The Cardinals are expecting Jordan to miss some time while the exact severity of the injury is still being determined, which leaves the situation in a holding pattern for now. For a team trying to keep its infield stable, the next few days will matter, because the path forward at third base may depend on how long Jordan is sidelined and how the club chooses to cover the spot in the meantime. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Suddenly Have A New Injury Concern After Blaze Jordans Big Night
Blaze Jordans night against the Orioles had already featured one of the louder swings of the game, a 416-foot home run that helped set the tone before the Cardinals found themselves dealing with a different kind of headline. The third baseman was active all evening and looked to have given St. Louis exactly the kind of impact it wanted from him at the plate.
Then the game turned in the eighth inning, when Jordan came up awkwardly after tagging a runner and had to leave the field with help because of pain in his left foot or ankle. Nolan Gorman moved over to third base in his place, and now the Cardinals have a new injury situation to monitor after a promising performance took an uneasy turn. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Have One Clear Problem Standing Between Progress And Contention
The early optimism around the Cardinals has faded into a familiar midseason reality, as a strong start has given way to a record below .500 and a spot more than five games back in the wild-card race. There has still been reason to watch, especially with young players such as JJ Wetherholt, Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson showing encouraging growth, but the standings have a way of sharpening the conversation in St. Louis.
What stands out most now is how clearly the bullpen has separated itself from the rest of the roster. A 4.48 ERA from that group has left the Cardinals without the kind of dependable late-inning arms contenders usually lean on, and the trade deadline only underscored the issue after the club moved on from pieces like Dustin May and JoJo Romero. The front office appears poised to treat relief help as an offseason priority, because progress from the young core will only go so far if the run prevention behind it never stabilizes. [Read more 🡒]