Liberatore's scoreless start rewards Cards' faith in young lefty

ST. LOUIS -- For a stretch in June, it seemed that earning the nod as the Opening Day starter could represent a high point in an otherwise tumultuous season for Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore.

But the Cardinals were steadfast in their patience with the 26-year-old starter in a manner that has paid dividends in recent weeks.

On Saturday night at Busch Stadium, Liberatore breezed through six scoreless innings in a 4-1 win over the Braves. He scattered one walk and four hits, holding the Braves to just two occasions featuring a runner in scoring position against him.

The second of those produced a prosperous end to Liberatore’s night, as he benefitted from the slick defense of his double-play duo up the middle. JJ Wetherholt fielded Drake Baldwin’s grounder to second to kick-start a 4-6-3 double play to end the sixth inning. Masyn Winn ripped a one-hop throw to Alec Burleson, who cleanly scooped it for the difference-making defensive gem.

In a season that was always intended to set the foundation for the future of where St. Louis is heading as an organization, the Cardinals were insistent that they wouldn’t be bogged down in a stretch of undesirable results.

If Liberatore was progressing, even if only in ways that didn’t immediately reveal themselves in the box score, the Cardinals were prepared to see him through turbulent waters in the starting rotation. Over his past three starts, Liberatore has allowed just five runs (four earned) in 16 innings.

“There’s been adjustments to several things in order for that to take place,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “It wasn’t just something where you just give it time. So I’m excited about where it’s headed. He’s been really good about taking some of these adjustments to heart and making sure that he can continue to implement them into every game.

“We saw more of it today with how he used his stuff, his overall usage. He executed well. So it’s pointing in the right direction as of right now.”

Specific to the adjustments in Liberatore’s usage, Marmol stressed that the lefty getting his breaking pitches consistently over the plate while maintaining his quality pitch mix was critical to Saturday’s outing.

“Landing the curveball, the slider as well, the combination of those two pitches, the cutter,” Marmol said. “But [he] also mixed in some sweepers for the first time. So the combo of all of that allowed for even more success.”

Liberatore agreed that spin was an important throughline for his six scoreless frames. He also acknowledged the extent to which communication behind the scenes has left few stones unturned in his search for improvement.

For all of the temptation to make drastic changes, though, Liberatore feels there’s an aspect of keeping it simple that has also benefitted his game during this more recent stable stretch.

“There have been a lot of conversations and discussions that we’ve had about adjustments that maybe need to or could be made -- or even some outside of the box thinking,” Liberatore explained. “But I think at the end of the day, a lot of it was simplification of the process.

“That process is certainly not over. But I think tonight and even the last couple of starts, despite some of the intermittent results, were steps in the right direction, for sure.”

One factor Saturday that, naturally, makes for a successful start is the limited self-inflicted adversity that Liberatore faced. A knock on Liberatore has been his penchant to permit the big inning. One way to avoid that is to do it the way he did against Atlanta -- scatter the baserunners and don’t allow any runs.

Liberatore knows the crooked number is something that’s plagued him before. On Saturday, he didn’t force himself into a situation where his ability to rebound from damage was tested.

When that trial inevitably arrives soon, Liberatore hopes to lean on the adjustments that have seen him through this recent period of improved performance to guide him as he looks to keep curtailing the big innings moving forward.

“That was something that was a theme over a couple starts,” Liberatore said. “I think over the last few starts, I’ve done a much better job of that. Not to say that it’s never going to happen again, but I think some of the discussions that we had and adjustments that were made helped me navigate through those moments.

“Hopefully, that continues to be the case.”