Matthew Liberatore

Liberatore, who was looking at a completely winless second half, gets to finish on a positive note. He ends the year 6-14 with a 5.23 ERA, and he was pretty fortunate to never having been sent to the pen by the Cardinals. His one saving grace was a 23 percent strikeout rate that was a nice improvement over his mark of 19 percent from his first full year as a starter in 2025. That’ll probably keep him in the Cardinals’ rotation mix to open next year, but he shouldn’t be promised anything.

Liberatore struck out two and walked three, keeping St. Louis in a game it eventually lost 6-5 in 10 innings. The club’s Opening Day starter is up to 149 1/3 innings this season, just a few shy of beating last year’s career high. While he has slightly increased his K-BB% from a season ago, the results haven’t been as good, with his ERA only falling to 5.36 after Wednesday’s performance. He’s lined up to face the Pirates on the road in his next start.

The left-hander also issued three free passes in the ballgame while striking out two. All of the damage done against him came on a pair of solo blasts off the bat of Chase Meidroth — one to lead off the game and another to open the third inning. Liberatore got seven swings and misses on 72 offerings on the night, registering a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll look to get back in the win column as he carries a 5.53 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and a 146/52 K/BB ratio (143 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Giants.

Liberatore gave up four hits, walked two and struck out three. He fell to 5-14 with the loss. Liberatore had recorded 25 strikeouts over his last three starts entering play Saturday, but didn’t miss enough Rockies bats, leading to just three strikeouts. He has a 5.57 ERA. Liberatore is lined up to face the White Sox at home next weekend.

Liberatore struck out nine today for the second time in three starts. He’s now done that five times this year after never doing so in 53 career starts coming into 2026. Unfortunately, though, the extra strikeouts just haven’t brought Liberatore much success. Two more homers today took his season total to 25 in 134 2/3 innings, which is a big reason why he’s 5-13 with a 5.41 ERA. He’ll pitch in Colorado next weekend.

Liberatore lost a fourth straight start to 5-12 with a 5.44 ERA. Still, his job security has improved due to injuries to Andre Pallante and Hunter Dobbins. He’ll likely face the Pirates on Sunday.

Liberatore finished with a quality start as he struck out nine without walking anyone. All three runs he surrendered came via a Sal Stewart homer in the bottom of the sixth. The left-hander has been inconsistent with a 5.04 ERA on the season, but Wednesday’s outing was one of his better performances despite the late stumble. He’s scheduled for a home start against the Orioles next time out.

He deserved better here. Liberatore threw five one-hit innings to start the game, induced a pop up to Pete-Crow Armstrong with runners on first and third and nobody out, then watched helplessly as George Soriano allowed a three-run homer to Seiya Suzuki to cash the inherited runners. Liberatore has a 3.96 ERA and 1.32 WHIP over his last seven starts. We wouldn’t recommend streaming him in Cincinnati next week, but he could be useful in the right matchup down the stretch.

Liberatore gave up nine hits — one of those a homer — and two walks, and he struck out three. It’s a far-cry from the six scoreless the southpaw threw last weekend against the Blue Jays, and much more indicative of his struggles on the season as seen in a 5.15 ERA. He’ll have a chance to rebound against the Cubs on Friday, but there’s more risk than reward in Liberatore’s profile.

Liberatore allowed one hit and walked one while striking out seven. He threw 66 percent of his pitches for strikes and had a 13 percent swinging strike rate. In fact, this is now his fourth straight start with a swinging strike rate of at least 13 percent, so even though the results have been inconsistent, Liberatore is starting to miss more bats. He’ll try to keep this going at home against the Rockies next week.

Liberatore has given up 35 runs — 30 earned — in just 40 2/3 innings over his last nine starts, taking his ERA from 4.35 to 5.26. With the Cardinals currently possessing six starters for five spots, a bullpen demotion for Liberatore wouldn’t be a bad idea. However, it’s quite possible they’ll be trading one starter, most likely Dustin May, to alleviate the logjam. If Liberatore stays in the rotation, he’ll face the Blue Jays this weekend.

The Angels were all over Liberatore at the start of this one. Four hits would put three runs on the board before Jo Adell made it a five-run first inning with a two-run homer before Liberatore could get out of trouble. He salvaged his day by settling in to pitch into the sixth without giving up another run, leaving with one out in the inning at 95 pitches. He struck out seven. The 26-year-old left-hander will take a 5.18 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, and a 95/38 K/BB ratio across 99 innings into a start against the Cubs in St. Louis on Monday.

Liberatore gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six. He improved to 5-6 with the win. Liberatore has won two of his last three starts. The 26-year-old left-hander was excellent Saturday as he shutdown the Braves’ offense. Liberatore takes a 5.00 ERA into the All-Star break, though his 4.37 xFIP points to better starts in the future.

The one run came in the third, when Jorge Mateo singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sac fly. With two lefties due up, the Cardinals brought Liberatore back out for the sixth at 92 pitches. However, he walked Matt Olson to start the inning and was pulled. Liberatore’s nine strikeouts came up one shy of his career high from last month. He fanned 10 Brewers in a loss on May 25 and then went his last five starts without ever striking out more than four batters. The rebound ensures that he’ll continue to stick in the rotation and face the Cubs on Sunday. Still, there’s not a lot to like here at the moment.

LuJames Groover and Ketel Marte homered off him. Liberatore has allowed 22 runs — 18 earned — over 15 2/3 innings in his four starts this month, raising his ERA from 4.35 to 5.56. The Cardinals could consider sending him to the pen and going to Hunter Dobbins in his spot next week, but most likely, they’ll stick with him and have him face the Braves on Tuesday.

Yikes. Liberatore did record two of his five outs via the strikeout and didn’t walk a batter. He allowed one run in the opening inning on a solo blast by Bobby Witt Jr. The Royals then piled on with six more while chasing him in the second. He got four whiffs on just 48 pitches in the game, posting a CSW of 27 percent. He now holds a disappointing 5.23 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and a 67/27 K/BB ratio over 72 1/3 innings of work in 15 starts on the season. He’ll try to get back on track when he takes on the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Liberatore gave up two homers in the fourth and one more in the fifth before departing. That brings his season total of homers allowed to 14 in 14 starts. Last year, he allowed a total of 19 in his 29 starts. Liberatore will take a 3-3 record and a 4.71 ERA into his next turn versus the Royals.

It’s the fourth time in five starts that Liberatore, whose velocity was down one mph today, has allowed at least three runs while getting no more than 15 outs. The Cardinals won anyway, so they’re 9-4 when he pitches this season, even though his ERA stands at 4.48 and he’s completed six innings only three times. He’ll pitch in Minnesota next weekend.

Liberatore allowed three hits, walked one and struck out five. That’s just half as many strikeouts as the career-high 10 he had last time out, but it is a fifth straight start with at least five strikeouts. He reached that mark just once in his first seven starts. Last year, he struck out five in 13 of his 29 starts (and went 6-4 when he did, compared to 2-10 the rest of the time.) Liberatore has a 4.35 ERA and a 58/24 K/BB in 62 innings on the season. He’ll face the Reds next weekend.

Given what Jacob Misiorowski was doing to Cardinals hitters today, it was pretty easy to miss Liberatore setting a career high for strikeouts for a second straight outing. He’d never topped eight before fanning nine Pirates on Tuesday, and now he has 10 for the first time. His 17 whiffs were just two fewer than Misiorowski’s total (he also had two fewer strikeouts), and while he did give up seven hits, he actually allowed only four hard-hit balls. Liberatore dropped to 2-3 with a 4.76 ERA, but his stock is climbing as he misses more bats. He’ll likely face the Cubs on Sunday.