Cardinals Recall 4th-Ranked Prospect for Tuesday's Doubleheader

He's the 85th-ranked prospect in all of baseball and the fourth-ranked left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball.

The St. Louis Cardinals are adding starter Matthew Liberatore to the roster Tuesday as the 27th man.  

Liberatore is expected to pitch in one of the Cardinals' doubleheader games against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. 

Matthew Liberatore has joined the club in Chicago. He or Woodford will start one of the two games in Tuesday’s doubleheader. Wainwright has the other one. #stlcards

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) August 22, 2022

It was announced that Jake Woodford will get the start, so Liberatore will likely pitch in a long-relief role. 

The twenty-two-year-old has had a disappointing major league debut this season. In 27 innings pitched with the Cardinals this season, Liberatore has posted a 5.33 ERA, an ugly 1.74 WHIP and 22 strikeouts over 27 innings. 

Photo Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

In Triple-A this year, Liberatore's actually been no better. Although he started off the season strong, he's really faltered, throwing an ERA of 5.25, a 1.42 WHIP and 88 strikeouts over 85 innings. In 16 games started, he's posted a 5-6 record. 

If the Cardinals top pitching prospect continues to struggle as a starter, the team may look to utilize him out of the bullpen moving forward, similar to what the Baltimore Orioles are doing with their prospect DL Hall. 

Photo Credit:  John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports