The Cardinals may be headed for an October without baseball, but Quinn Matthews just made sure his name is going to hang around St. Louis all winter.
With fewer than a dozen games left, the Cardinals are nearly eight games out and all but out of the playoff picture. That doesn’t erase what this season has become for a club that traded away star players in the offseason and sold at the deadline, then still managed to stack up 75 wins and uncover real building blocks for the future.
Matthews is one of the latest to join that list.
In Monday’s 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants, the rookie left-hander carved through 6 2/3 innings, struck out eight and gave up just one run on four hits. He was untouchable early, retiring the first 10 hitters he saw, and the outing fit the broader pattern he’s established across seven starts in St. Louis: flashes of real upside, and only one game in which he’s allowed more than two earned runs.
The Cardinals have already seen rookie infielder JJ Wetherholt emerge as a franchise cornerstone, while Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson have turned into bona fide stars. Leo Bernal has also chipped in lately, collecting 14 RBIs in 13 games. Matthews now belongs in that same conversation about what comes next.
There’s a path opening in the 2027 rotation, too. Kyle Leahy, Michael McGreevy and Andre Pallante are locked in for that group, but the rest of the picture is unsettled, especially after Hunter Dobbins underwent Tommy John surgery. Matthew Liberatore has struggled badly this season, which leaves Matthews as one of the leading candidates for a spot alongside Cooper Hjerpe and Richard Fitts.
If he keeps pitching like this, the Cardinals won’t have much of a debate left. Matthews has done enough already to force his way into the conversation, and another strong finish would make it tough to leave him out of St. Louis’ starting rotation next season.
In Other News...
Cardinals Could Finally Have A Shot At The Frontline Arm They Need
Spencer Strider has become the kind of name that naturally pops up when teams start searching for a rotation lift. The Braves right-hander has been slowed by injuries in recent seasons, which has changed the conversation around him from frontline ace to possible buy-low trade target, and that alone makes him one of the more intriguing arms on the offseason market for a club like the Cardinals.
St. Louis has spent plenty of time looking for the kind of pitcher who can change the shape of a staff, and Striders availability would fit that search. Atlanta reportedly explored moving him to Texas for Jacob deGrom at the trade deadline before deGrom used his no-trade clause to stop it, which only adds to the sense that Strider could be in play if the Braves are willing to listen. For the Cardinals, the appeal is obvious, even if the real question is whether they can put together the kind of deal that gets them into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Leo Bernal Is Making One Cardinals Regret Feel Even Bigger
Leo Bernals first few weeks in the big leagues have done more than introduce the Cardinals to a promising young catcher. Since his promotion on Sept. 1, he has given St. Louis immediate production on both sides of the ball, looking far more settled than a player making his first leap to the majors. The early returns have been strong enough to turn his arrival into one of the more encouraging developments of the late season, and his impact has already shown up in the record book.
For the Cardinals, the more interesting part is what might have been if Bernal had arrived sooner. The clubs playoff chase could have looked different with that kind of energy behind the plate and in the lineup earlier in the stretch run, especially given how quickly he has translated his tools to the majors. Even now, the larger question hangs over the organization: not whether Bernal belongs, but how much more value he could have provided if the call had come before September. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Rotation Has One Rising Surprise And One Growing Concern
With 11 games left and a Wild Card chase that has all but slipped away, the Cardinals are spending the final stretch looking at the rotation with a colder eye than they did a month ago. The group has produced one rising surprise in the mix, but it has also left a growing concern that has shaped the way St. Louis has evaluated the rest of this season and the months ahead.
That backdrop makes the trade of Dustin May and JoJo Romero to the Milwaukee Brewers even more telling, because the return brought back two prospects the organization sees as worth tracking: Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale. Both players fit the kind of long-view thinking that takes over when the standings get grim, and their arrival adds a little intrigue to a system that is trying to balance short-term uncertainty with long-term hope. [Read more 🡒]