What to Expect from Cardinals Pitcher Quinn Mathews

After almost two full years in the Minors, Quinn Mathews received the call to the Cardinals’ big-league roster. Mathews, one of the best pitchers in the farm system, will start fo St. Louis to start the month of August after a fantastic July in Triple-A Memphis. It also comes amidst a year where he’s been able to limit walks, something that bugged him last year.

A Look at Mathews

The Cardinals made left-hander Quinn Mathews a fourth-round pick in 2023 after a standout senior season with Stanford. His senior year saw Mathews strike out 158 over 116 innings, highlighted by a 16-strikeout performance against the Texas Longhorns in the 2023 Super Regionals.

When Mathews was in college, his fastball mainly sat in the low-90s. But that velo ticked up in 2024, a year that saw him rise extremely quickly through the Cardinals’ system. Mathews struck out 202 batters over 143.1 IP between four levels in 2024. He started in Low-A, and ended the year in Triple-A Memphis.

But over the last two seasons, the left-hander has fought the command bug down in Triple-A. Last season, Mathews allowed 74 batters over 99 innings with the Redbirds. This year, that number has ticked down, to 52 over 92 innings. While the BB/9 (5.1) is still high, it is an improvement from where it was in 2025.

It’s a five-pitch mix for Mathews, which starts with that four-seamer that ran as high as 97 MPH but sat mostly in the 94-95 MPH range. It’s his most-used pitch, and combined with his sinker, Mathews will throw fastballs roughly 50% of the time. Aside from those two pitches, Mathews works off a slider that’s seen more usage over the year, plus, a biting mid-80s changeup, as well as a curveball.

The four-seamer is a pitch with cut & carry, a desirable trait amongst analytically-friendly teams. The two-seamer is more of a runner than an actual sinker, and he can also spin a pretty effective breaking ball.