Cardinals Top Prospect Dazzles In 2023 Debut; Could Be Missing Piece St. Louis Needs

The St. Louis Cardinals may have just found their starting pitching solution. 

St. Louis currently is at the bottom of the National League Central standings at 18-26 but is 8-2 over its last 10 games and seems to be finally turning things around. The Cardinals' biggest weakness so far this season has been the club's starting pitching, but that also seems to be making a turn. 

Although the pitching has started to turn things around, they could still use some work. St. Louis has been in trade rumors for starting pitching seemingly all season to this point, but the best option for the club may be in-house already. 

St. Louis No. 4 prospect Matthew Liberatore made his 2023 debut for the club Wednesday night in a spot start against the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers and shined. The young fireballer pitched five innings in the club's 3-0 win and didn't allow a run while striking out six Brewers hitters. Liberatore even hit 98 miles per hour on his fastball in the start. 

Liberatore has been tearing it up at the Triple-A level with the Memphis Redbirds so it's not too surprising that he was able to impress Wednesday night. Hopefully, Liberatore showed the organization enough to give him a larger opportunity with the team. The 23-year-old somewhat struggled with the Cardinals in 2022 finishing the season with a 5.97 ERA in seven starts and nine total appearances. 

If Liberatore could translate his minor league success to the big league level, he could be just what the Cardinals need to get the starting rotation back on track. St. Louis won 93 games in 2022 and has the star power to compete this season with an improved rotation, maybe Liberatore is the missing piece.