Matz grinding to give Cards a full slate of starts

JUPITER, Fla. -- Disappointed with how he’s performed over two injury-marred seasons with the Cardinals, left-handed pitcher Steven Matz knew he had to make some major changes to his offseason routine to ensure that he was more durable and available to have any shot at enjoying success in 2024.

Rather than being reactive with the various twinges and bouts of soreness he would occasionally feel in his shoulder, Matz worked this offseason to be more proactive by undergoing physical therapy sessions prior to throwing. Now 32-years-old, he’s learned that sometimes less is more when it comes to throwing sessions. Matz purposefully didn’t report to the Cards complex until last week to avoid overuse this spring.

Matz repeated his main goal for 2024 on Monday, this time with conviction.

“Make all my starts this season,” Matz said.

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Do that, and Matz might show why the Cardinals rewarded him with a four-year, $44 million free-agent deal before the 2022 season. After all, the last time he was healthy for a full season, he posted a 14-7 record and a 3.82 ERA over 29 starts with the Blue Jays in 2021. More than anything, Matz wants to avoid strife with the left shoulder, left knee and lat injuries that maligned his previous two seasons.

“I would say both my years with the Cardinals so far have been disappointing, for me personally,” said Matz, who threw a side session at St. Louis’ complex on Monday before all pitchers and catchers report on Tuesday. “Last year was a better building block for coming into this year with the innings under my belt and having a pretty good sample size [before a season-ending injury]. I’ve just got to make all my starts this year, and then I feel like I'll be right where I need to be.”

A Cardinals club that spent the offseason revamping its pitching staff would like Matz to be right in the middle of their renaissance, following a dreadful 2023 where the starters and relievers had their fingerprints all over a 71-91 finish. Expected to be a key cog in the rotation last year, Matz started slowly and was demoted to the bullpen. He then recovered with his best stretch as a Cardinal, but saw his season end prematurely with a lat strain in August.

Similarly, his 2022 season included a rocky start, a shoulder injury, a scary knee injury and more time pitching out of the bullpen instead of starting. He is aware the Cardinals brought him in to balance out their righty-heavy rotation with some dependability from the left side, but those traits have yet to bear fruit.

“Individually, I think we’re all really hungry, and collectively, the Cardinals are such a winning organization that we don't want to be part of what happened last year,” said Matz, who is just 9-10 with a 4.29 ERA in 40 games (27 starts) with St. Louis. “Everybody tasted that [failure] last year, and it fuels you to reflect on what went wrong, learn from that and take the next step this year.”

Matz knows that availability is one of the most important things for a pitcher to have. This season, he’ll be a part of a retooled staff that includes incoming veterans Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson, and incumbent starter Miles Mikolas. Already, he’s seen how infectious the toughness and grit of Gray -- an offseason workout partner of his in suburban Nashville, Tenn., -- can help himself and other Cardinals hurlers.

“He's focused on the field, he's focused in the gym and he’s very meticulous with his craft,” Matz said. “I'm really looking forward to learning from that.”

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Matz has also learned that he must better listen to his body to potentially avoid injuries that might knock him out of the rotation again. These days, he’s working as hard before throwing as he is afterward in hopes of staying on top of potential issues. Matz is confident that if he consistently takes care of his body, he’ll be able to make 30 starts and be a driving force in a Cards bounceback campaign.

“This offseason I learned to turn down the volume a little bit -- instead of [throwing] four times a week, going to three,” he said. “It’s going to PT before throwing, making sure all the tissues are right and checking the boxes.

“Obviously, the goal is to make all my starts. So, we got together and said, ‘What do I have to do to do that?’ We put a plan together and tried to stay really consistent with everything.”