ST. LOUIS -- Rocked for three runs during a four-batter stretch of the third inning, Cardinals starter-turned-reliever-turned-starter Matthew Liberatore thought back to all the mental and physical work he did over the winter to weather such rough spots in his new role, and ultimately powered through.
More than a stellar start, where he retired the first eight Angels he faced to open the game, Liberatore was prouder of the way he responded to adversity on Tuesday in his first start of the season. While potholes such as the rough finish to the third inning might have tripped him up in the past, Liberatore showed off a newfound maturity by finishing with a flourish.
¡°That was huge for me, because you definitely don¡¯t want to go three [innings] and [be] done, especially with us coming off an extra-innings game the night before,¡± said Liberatore, whose Cardinals lost to the Angels in extra innings a second straight night -- 9-7 in 11 innings on Tuesday at Busch Stadium. ¡°You want to cover some innings for those guys in the ¡®pen. So being able to get six [innings] out of today was awesome.¡±
As much as it stung the Cardinals to lose another extra-innings game to the Angels, it had to be encouraging for them to see Liberatore -- a pitcher they believed in enough to move back into the starting rotation -- show some steely resolve. Despite not pitching in a game in 10 days, Liberatore was especially sharp in the early going by needing just 27 pitches to retire the first six batters.
The third inning was shaping up similarly when Liberatore got Nolan Schanuel and Jo Adell to ground out, but that¡¯s when disaster struck. Four consecutive right-handers -- Tim Anderson, Taylor Ward, Luis Rengifo and Mike Trout -- pounced with hits when Liberatore¡¯s velocity dropped.
During Liberatore¡¯s time as a reliever in 2024, that rough patch likely led to his exit. However, as a starter, he desperately wanted to show the Cardinals that he is a tougher, more disciplined pitcher who can survive adversity.
¡°There¡¯s a lot that¡¯s gone into that, and with me pitching every five days now, there¡¯s a routine with me trying to have my entire time at the field blocked out in an efficient manner,¡± Liberatore said of the conditioning work and film study he¡¯s put in to try and take advantage of his second shot at starting. ¡°I¡¯m really just doing everything I can to try and feel as good as possible every fifth day.¡±
Some of Liberatore¡¯s confidence stems from the way the Cardinals have handled his latest foray into the starting staff. Determined to provide opportunities for their young core and stick with it even if there are missteps along the way, manager Oliver Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake assured the 25-year-old left-hander that his promotion to the starting staff was a permanent assignment and not some flimsy tryout.
¡°With Liberatore, this isn't, ¡®You have three starts; show us what you got,¡¯¡± Marmol said. ¡°That's not what we're doing. He's going to have the ability to go out there every single day and focus on being a starter. When you look at our future, he's a part of what we're building here. We want him to have the mindset of knowing that he was going to start and not bounce back and forth [between starting and relieving].¡±
Marmol said the easy thing for the Cardinals to do would have been to return Liberatore to the bullpen, a spot where he found his niche a year ago. In 54 relief appearances, Liberatore shined over short bursts and compiled a 2-2 record and a 3.69 ERA. However, the club feels his potential is too great -- especially following an offseason of sharpening the shape of his pitches -- to limit him to a relief role.
¡°I know people are probably divided on, ¡®Well, he¡¯s a good reliever and he just hasn't had success as a starter, so just keep him as a reliever,¡¯¡± Marmol said. ¡°Well, we know he's a good reliever, right? But he's also still young, and you have to find out if he can truly be a starter, and he has shown an uptick in how he's using the stuff, while also maturing with his overall presence and mindset.¡±
Liberatore rewarded that faith by showing resilience when he encountered trouble on Tuesday.
¡°I think I¡¯ve just gotten better at [handling adversity], and part of that is just flushing it and moving on,¡± said Liberatore, who struck out four Angels without a walk. ¡°I¡¯m not just doing this for me; I¡¯m doing it for everybody else in here. That gives me more motivation to go out and pick up those extra innings.¡±