ST. LOUIS -- Quinn Mathews is so insistent in the deadpan delivery of his own self-deprecating thoughts that it can be difficult to discern what’s real for the Cardinals’ rookie left-hander -- and what should be taken as pure shtick.
One day after Mathews’ best big league start to date, his rotation-mate Michael McGreevy wasn’t buying much of it.
As reporters peppered Mathews (St. Louis' No. 8 prospect) with big-picture inquiries related to his baseball journey, McGreevy couldn’t help but chuckle at some of what he was hearing.
“I didn’t really dream of being a big leaguer,” Mathews said. “As sad as that kind of sounds, I just never thought it was realistic. I thought I was going to be, honestly, working on something like Wall Street. That’s what I thought my future was.”
Now, wait a minute. Mathews was a fourth-round Draft pick after his senior year at Stanford. That’s nothing to scoff at.
Several reporters took turns probing Mathews for more.
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“I appreciate all you guys, but the journalists and the writers weren’t as high or as bullish on me and my abilities to get here,” Mathews said. “I was just a left-handed pitcher that had a decent changeup, basically was the report. It’s not the most conviction in a prospect ever.”
Humble self-reflection. But when the Cardinals called Mathews’ name with the No. 122 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, didn’t he realize the path that might lay before him?
By the time Mathews was asked that question, McGreevy had sidled up to his locker for the answer.
“[The Cardinals] kind of were just like, 'Hey, you’re a senior sign in the fourth round,'” Mathews started, with McGreevy practically bursting with incredulity -- and laughter. “I get a lot of mixed reactions when I call myself a senior sign.”
“How much?” McGreevy chirped, in reference to Mathews’ signing bonus reflecting how the organization valued his talents.
“I think they definitely had more belief in me than I did,” Mathews acknowledged. “But, like I said, I think also being a senior sign is a driving, motivating factor.”
Did we stumble upon a method to the madness? Does Mathews believe everything he’s putting out there -- or does he just need to convince himself he does, as a motivational tactic?
In 2024, Mathews was named the Minor League Pitcher of the Year in the Cardinals organization when he breezed through virtually every level of the farm system in a single summer. Still, he remained unconvinced.
“There’s a lot of guys that have had a ton of success in the Minor Leagues that either haven’t stuck in the big leagues or haven’t gotten over that final hurdle," Mathews explained. "… So it’s like, 'What if you’re just one of those that burned out? Crashed out?'”
For as elusive as his reality may still feel, Mathews isn’t topping out at Triple-A. Through seven big league starts, he’s posted a respectable 3.62 ERA and continues to refine his game with each passing turn.
Though amusing to hear a professional athlete so committed to downplaying his own stature, there’s an element of truth to the way Mathews internalizes his performances.
“Sometimes, he gets in his own way,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “And I’d rather have it that way than somebody that doesn’t care enough.”
But beneath the outward façade of diffidence is an area of emphasis for Mathews: to let himself appreciate the wins, the strides he’s made in honing his craft.
“That’s the area he’s improved in the most, in my opinion,” Marmol said. “It’s just being able to reflect on the things he does well.”
At a certain point, it’s a confidence conversation.
“You also have to remind yourself of the things you do well and double down on those,” Marmol said. “Then just put an action plan together and make sure the other list starts to get shorter and shorter. But to live in that space? There are enough people that are going to tell you that you’re not good enough and you don’t belong, so you can’t dwell in that too long.”
Mathews recognizes how that factor contributed to the bumps in the road he experienced in Triple-A in 2025.
“I wasn’t probably being as productive and as positive with the things I was doing well,” Mathews said. “Everything was just negative, because I wasn’t pitching up to my standard.”
Of course, even with the sturdy and steadily improving numbers he’s posted to this point with the Cardinals, Mathews says he still doesn’t feel he’s pitching up to that lofty standard.
As Mathews settles into his big league reality, striking that balance remains on the agenda.