Matthew Liberatore #52

Graduated from Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona...Had signed his letter of intent to the University of Arizona...Posted marks of 8-1 with an 0.93 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 60.1 innings during his senior year in 2017 (15.51 K/9 IP) earning Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year honors...Was a childhood teammate and friend of current Cardinals minor league infielder Nolan Gorman. Both played on the same World Cup team in 2017, winning the Gold Medal in Canada...Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 2 overall player in the 2018 draft...Originally selected by the Rays in the first round (16th overall) of the June, 2018 First-Year Player Draft, making him the highest drafted high school player in Rays franchise history...Threw 12.0 scoreless innings against Korea to win the Gold Medal Game in the 18U World Cup Championship...Was a member of Mountain Ridge’s two State Runner-Up teams in 2016 and 2018. Lost to close friend and current teammate Nolan Gorman and Sandra Day O’Connor HS in the 2018 championship, but did not pitch in the game...Helped lead Mountain Ridge to the Arizona Division 1 (now Class 6A) State Runner-Up in 2016 before they were defeated by Hamilton HS led by pitcher Cole Bellinger (brother of Cody Bellinger), which came out of the elimination bracket. Defeated O’Connor High School, led by Nolan Gorman, in the Opening Game...Grew up idolizing Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax...Resides in Punta Gorda, Florida.

2021

In his first season of play in the Cardinals organization, set career highs and led the Cardinals organization in wins (9), innings pitched (124.2), and strikeouts (123)... Also set career highs in starts (18), appearances (22)... Struck out 123 batters against only 33 walks (3.73 SO/ BB ratio)... Finished among Triple-A East leaders in ERA (4.04), strikeouts (3rd), innings pitched (3rd), average against (.257, 8th), WHIP (1.25, 5th), GO/AO ratio (0.93, 7th), opp. OBP (.309, 5th), SLG (.431, 7th), and opp. OPS (.740)... Opened the season as the 4th-youngest player in the Triple-A East Division behind Wander Franco, Luis Garcia, and Gabriel Arias... Pitched 6.0 innings or longer in 10 starts (eight quality starts)... Invited to Major League Spring Training for the second consecutive year, both seasons entering as the Cardinals youngest pitcher in camp... Two-time winner of the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month award for June and August... In June, went 3-1 with a 3.42 ERA (23.2 IP) with 24 strikeouts and a 1.01 WHIP in four starts. Pitched a career-high 8.0 innings vs. Jacksonville (AAA-Marlins) on 6/30... In August, was 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA (25.1 IP) with 24 strikeouts and .240 average against in four starts. Threw three consecutive 7.0 inning starts while throwing a 68.2 percent strike rate to finish August... Started for the National League in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Coors Field. Worked a perfect first frame on 13 pitches, retiring a trio of top 10 prospects in Bobby Witt Jr., Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodríguez... Missed two weeks of the regular season while helping USA Baseball during the qualifying round of the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Allowed two runs across two starts (9.2 IP) with eight strikeouts... All four of his relief outings followed injury rehabilitation assignments by Daniel Ponce de Leon, Justin Miller, and Jordan Hicks (2)... Following the season, rated as having the "Best Control" in the Triple-A East in Baseball America's Best Tools Survey by league managers.

2020

Did not pitch during the season, but was at the Alternate Training Site in Springfield...Made two relief appearances for St. Louis at Major League Spring Training as a 20-year old.

2019

Made 16 appearances and 15 starts while at Bowling Green (A) in his first full professional season...Was placed on the 7-day minor league injured list with back tightness (8/6-8/20)...Struck out a career-high 10 batters over 7.0 innings allowing an unearned run in a complete game effort vs. Great Lakes (6/28)...Made one relief appearance vs. Lansing (8/5) allowing an unearned run with two strikeouts in 2.0 innings...Ran off a streak of 19.0 scoreless innings (6/9-21) including back-to-back scoreless starts vs. West Michigan (6/9) and at Lansing (6/15)...Held the opposition to one earned run or less in 10 of 15 starts...Named Rays Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June, posting a 4-1 record and 0.55 ERA in the month over five starts fanning 33 batters in 33.0 innings. Tied for the Single-A lead with four wins in the month...Surrendered just two home runs the entire season, coming to left-hander Nick Ward vs. Beloit (7/11) and left-hander Miles Gordon at Dayton (7/30)...Threw 3.0 scoreless innings in a relief appearance at South Bend (9/4), as Bowling Green fell to South Bend 2-1 in Game One of the Midwest League quarter-finals...Following the season, ranked as the Midwest League's No. 2 overall prospect by Baseball America.

2018

Made nine starts in his first professional season with eight coming for the Gulf Coast League Rays before finishing the season with the Princeton Rays (R) of the Appalachian League...Named Rays Minor League Pitcher of the Month for August posting a 2-1 record with 0.79 ERA over five starts...Did not allow an earned run (3 UER) over his final five starts in the Gulf Coast League totaling 21.2 innings...• Struck out a season-high eight batters over 5.0 scoreless innings vs. GCL Twins (8/20) in his final start in the Gulf Coast League...Was promoted to the Appalachian League and threw 5.0 innings allowing two runs on five hits for a win vs. Danville (8/26)...Threw 4.1 scoreless innings in a no decision, as Princeton won vs. Bluefield (9/1) in Game 2 of the Appalachian League playoff semi-finals. Scattered five hits, walked two and struck out five...Following the season, ranked as the Gulf Coast League's No. 3 overall prospect by Baseball America.