Cards prospect Mathews reassigned to Minors after 'phenomenal' showing

JUPITER, Fla. -- As impressed as the Cardinals were with Quinn Mathews’ fiery competitiveness and his electric stuff on the mound over the past three weeks, they were equally awestruck with the way the analytical left-hander thought about the game and how he had already formulated a plan to improve in his quest to ultimately reach the big leagues.

The Cards bid adieu to Mathews on Sunday, when he was reassigned to the club’s Minor League camp. However, if all goes well in the coming weeks and months, the two sides could become reacquainted with one another at the MLB level.

Mathews, the 2024 Minor League Pitching Prospect of the Year after striking out 202 batters across four levels of the Minors, cleared out his locker in the Cards' big league clubhouse and donned a Minor League jersey on Sunday following his reassignment. With Spring Training starts becoming scarcer, the Cardinals moved the 24-year-old lefty -- the No. 45 overall prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- to their Minor League camp so that he can stay on a schedule of starting every fifth day.

However, before he moved to the Minor League side of the clubhouse, Mathews conducted an exit interview with manager Oliver Marmol, bench coach Daniel Descalso, pitching coach Dusty Blake and bullpen coach Julio Rangel to discuss his impressions of working alongside other big leaguers. The Cards strategically placed Mathews’ locker next to that of veteran right-hander Sonny Gray so that the two could organically talk pitching and Mathews could see Gray’s highly nuanced work between starts. Marmol is confident that Mathews’ time in big league camp will greatly aid his development in the season ahead.

“He did a phenomenal job,” Marmol said of Mathews, who threw two scoreless innings against the Blue Jays on Tuesday. “Even in his exit meeting to transition into Minor League camp, it was awesome. You listen to him verbalize what he took out of camp and, from a routine standpoint, it's always good when these young guys can see it modeled here. Their immediate reaction is [realizing], 'Man, there's another whole level to preparation that I need to tap into.'

“That's what he communicated -- having a routine, not only for a game, but for the way he prepares for playing catch and preparing for his bullpen. There's a lot of room to commit to that, and it’s exciting because he's already good -- and there are areas of him being able to improve upon.”

Mathews, who simulated a start on the back fields at Roger Dean Stadium on Sunday, appreciated the Cardinals putting him next to Gray in the clubhouse to learn from the staff ace. Mathews also saw it as something of a dream come true by working his way into an MLB clubhouse -- something he's thought about since childhood.

“It’s different for me because a lot of these guys I had seen play as a kid. I saw Nolan [Arenado] play at Coors [Field] and I had seen Sonny pitch for the A’s,” Mathews joked. “With Sonny, I was trying to pick his brain as much as I could. I try to not overwhelm him because I know I can be a lot, especially with too many questions, but I’ve tried to get one or two [questions] in that I’ve had. He’s one of the best at what he does and that’s the level I’m trying to get to, so why not pick the best brain?”

In addition to pitching well in two live batting practice sessions, Mathews showed off his mental toughness in his lone Spring Training start. On Tuesday against Toronto, he showed a changeup to superstar slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. early in the count, then sped him up with two fastballs before following with another changeup below the zone for a strikeout.

In his second inning of work against the Blue Jays, Mathews retired the first two hitters he faced before encountering some trouble. However, Mathews showed no signs of panic by carefully pitching around Davis Schneider while knowing he had left-handed hitter Nathan Lukes in the on-deck circle. Mathews struck out Lukes to strand the bases loaded for a scoreless outing.

It was reminiscent of what Mathews did last season while pitching for Single-A Palm Beach, High-A Peoria, Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. Over 143 1/3 innings, he struck out 202 batters and compiled a 2.76 ERA.

“He's not going to [show weakness] and he doesn't give in to a whole lot, which is what I like,” Marmol said. “Some of those intangibles are there, man, and now, it's a matter of building on some of the things he didn't even know to ask. You do that well and pair it with his mentality, and you have a really, really nice [pitcher].”