St. Louis Cardinals Prospect Wins MiLB Pitcher of the Week

Former Stanford Cardinal Quinn Mathews was touted all offseason as a pitcher that could have an impact on the St. Louis Cardinals roster in 2025. He looked good in Spring Training, tossing six scoreless innings with the big-league team before being optioned to minor-league camp.

He made three starts with Triple-A Memphis at the beginning of the year, giving up seven earned runs in 10 1/3 innings of work, good for a 6.10 ERA. At that point he landed on the IL with left shoulder soreness and didn't make it back to the mound for about five weeks, when he made a few starts in the lower minors before re-joining Memphis at the end of May.

In his 15 2/3 innings of work since his return to the Redbirds, Mathews has allowed five runs (four earned) over four outings, but it was his most recent outing that earned him Pitcher of the Week honors in the International League.

On Wednesday, June 18, the lefty went five scoreless innings and allowed just one hit, a single to former Stanford Cardinal Maverick Handley, a catcher in the Baltimore Orioles organization. Handley has spent some time in the big leagues this year as the O's backup catcher behind Adley Rutschman while Gary Sánchez was on the IL.

In that outing, Mathews also walked a pair and struck out six.

The 24-year-old is the Cardinals' No. 2 prospect behind JJ Wetherholt, and in his return since a stint on the IL, he has appeared to be more like the pitcher that we saw rocket through the St. Louis system last year.

With the Cardinals sitting at 43-36 and just 3.5 games back of the rival Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, Mathews could end up being a difference-maker for St. Louis down the stretch. St. Louis is also tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the third and final wild-card spot in the National League, a game and a half behind the San Francisco Giants for the second spot, and a half-game clear of the San Diego Padres.

As for when he may get the call, it's likely that the organization will want to continue building him up so that he is able to consistently go at least five innings when he does debut. That'll probably take a few more starts.

Cardinals fans should be on the lookout around the All-Star break for a potential debut. If not out of the break, then perhaps around the Trade Deadline just a couple of weeks later will provide some space for Mathews on the 26-man roster.

The one slight dilemma for St. Louis is that Mathews is not on the team's 40-man roster just yet, so getting him to St. Louis will require some roster shuffling.