Cardinals No. 2 Prospect On Fire; Promotion Coming Soon?

A former Stanford University legend is climbing the ranks in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

On Friday, 24-year-old left-hander Quinn Mathews dominated on the mound, grabbing the attention of MLB Pipeline’s X account.

“Quinn Mathews turns in his best outing of 2025 for the Triple-A (Memphis Redbirds),” MLB Pipeline posted.

 “5 IP | 5 H | 1 R (0 ER) | 0 BB | 6 K … The @Cardinals’ top-ranked pitching prospect has a 1.03 WHIP over his past four outings.”

Mathews is now 1-2 on the season in the minors with a 3.52 ERA, 24 strikeouts, and 1.70 WHIP in seven starts (23 innings).

The former No. 122 overall pick is already well-known in the baseball universe for pulling off a 156-pitch outing versus Texas in college baseball’s Super Regionals (Mathews was a senior at Stanford).

Mathews excelled upon leaving Stanford, becoming MLB Pipeline’s Pitching Prospect of the Year in 2023 with a 2.76 ERA, .179 BA against, and 0.98 WHIP.

MLB.com’s scouting report of Mathews included the following heading into the 2025 season:

“The most noticeable change from Mathews’ time in college to the pro side was his added velocity. The 6-foot-5 southpaw’s four-seamer went from averaging 91.6 mph in his final year with Stanford to sitting in the 93-96 mph range -- heat that he held throughout much of the year.”

“Despite the additional velo, Mathews’ only stumbles in control came in Triple-A when he was already above 125 innings for the season. Some in the game believe he rivals fellow NL Central arm and 2023 pick Rhett Lowder for the honor of possessing the most pitchability among prospects entering 2025, and he’ll likely put that to the test against MLB bats before long.”

Mathews is currently ranked as St. Louis’ No. 2 overall prospect (and No. 1 pitching prospect) behind shortstop JJ Wetherholt. Filling out the rest of the top five are Tink Hence, Jimmy Crooks, and Thomas Saggese.