ANAHEIM, Calif. — Several weeks and a few game appearances into spring training, young lefty Matthew Liberatore was on the back fields looking for someone to play catch with. Sonny Gray, on his way back from a hamstring injury that interrupted his spring, volunteered.
After a few tosses and some firsthand looks at the lefty’s slider, Gray hit Liberatore with a question: Had he ever thrown a cutter?
He should really try a cutter, the ace suggested.
“Simple, off my slider, and added quickly,†Liberatore said.
A pitch created in spring could be key to what’s next for his summer.
In his second spot start for the Cardinals, Liberatore needed 60 pitches to get 10 outs from the Los Angeles Angels on Monday at Angel Stadium. He allowed four runs, all of them in the same inning, and fiddled throughout the game for both fastball command and a feel for that cutter. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said he and his staff want to “declare†a role for Liberatore in the coming days — either committing to him in the rotation or returning him to the bullpen and counting on someone else to fill Steven Matz’s spot.
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Liberatore has excelled in a relief role, and if he’s going to shift into starting, that cutter Gray suggested will be a large part of how he challenges right-handed hitters and hitters seeing him multiple times.
“The cutter is a real player for him, especially as a starter,†Marmol said. “It can be a pitch that allows him to go through a lineup a couple times. And even if there are righties in there, (he’ll) have something that’s coming into them. We like him as a reliever. We have a need at the moment. ... If we kept him in the starting rotation, I think we’re going to see a really good version of him the more times you send him out there. Obviously, you see what he does in the bullpen. He was starting to settle in, feel at home there.â€
Matz received an anti-inflammatory injection Monday to address the soreness in his lower back, and he has been prescribed another six days without throwing. That will assure his absence from the rotation for at least an additional two weeks, and it could be longer depending on his rehab schedule. That extends the time the Cardinals will need a new starter — even as their actions reveal they don’t have that candidate pushing up from the minors.
Marmol said the team will not turn to a four-man rotation with this week’s off day, insisting they’ll “honor the off-day†to get all the starters the extra rest.
Which brings them back to Liberatore.
The Cardinals have asked the lefty to both start and relieve in the past eight days. He pitched 3⅔ innings in a start against the White Sox, appeared in relief five days later and then started against the Angels. Marmol linked Liberatore’s labors Monday to what was being asked of him bouncing between roles.
“He competed,†Marmol said. “Especially not being able to throw a bullpen like a regular starter in between starts and work on something and command the baseball and be ready to start. We’re asking him to do multiple things, which is very difficult for anybody to do, let alone a young guy to do it. He handled it extremely well.â€
Against the Angels, Liberatore threw six different pitches. He threw four different pitches at least 10 times, and that included the cutter. A flat one got drilled for a double. In his previous start, against the White Sox, that same pitch buzzed at an average 89.5 mph, and he got five swings and misses on the pitch. The use of the cut fastball stands out from his other pitches because of the number of times he threw it before this season: zero. He didn’t have it, didn’t really tinker with it. He had a slider at 87 mph to complement a sinker that is now averaging 95 mph and then his change-up and curveball.
Gray suggested that a slight change to his slider would give him a cutter at a midrange velocity that also played well off his sinker to right-handed batters.
He could wedge in on them.
It only took a few spring outings to convince Liberatore.
“For me, it’s no different than adding in a quick pitch or a hesitation,†Liberatore said. “I think we’ve seen bits and pieces and flashes of it out of the bullpen. But I think going multiple times through the lineup with right-handed batters, that’s going to be the good pitch for me. Any time you add another weapon to the toolbox, it’s always beneficial.â€
Any time you get more innings to sharpen, it is beneficial.
That decision is imminent.
“It’s not an easy decision,†Marmol concluded. “I like him in the ’pen. We have a need in the rotation.â€
Shifting strategy
Late in Monday’s game, Marmol visited with the umpiring crew about something he and his staff spotted in the first inning — and waited for a strategic time to mention.
Marmol approached Larry Vanover and his crew about where the Angels had their infielders positioned and whether there was a possible rule violation. In the first inning, Angels shortstop Zach Neto was behind second and over the grass to catch a line drive from Matt Carpenter. If he had been in that spot before the pitch was delivered, Neto would have violated Major League Baseball’s shift ban. The Cardinals opted to wait until the seventh inning, deep into their eight-run outburst, to notify the umpires.
“We were waiting for a spot that mattered,†Marmol explained. “We saw it in the first with Carp, and we were waiting for an opportunity where the actual call could have made a difference. That’s why we chose that spot.â€
Carpenter, etc.
Fresh off his game-tying, two-run single Monday and spark atop the Cardinals lineup the past few games, Carpenter received a day off Tuesday to avoid playing five consecutive days in his return from a strain of his oblique muscle. For the first time ever at Angel Stadium, the Cardinals had a leadoff hitter other than a Carpenter. Masyn Winn moved up to No. 1.
- Keynan Middleton (forearm) got six pitches into the first appearance of his rehab assignment with Class AA Springfield (Missouri) when a rainstorm halted his inning and ended his outing. The right-hander will resume his appearances, as scheduled, on Thursday.
- Packy Naughton (flexor tendon surgery) was officially moved to a rehab assignment with the Cardinals’ Florida Complex League team. He’ll advance through the levels toward Class AAA Memphis or higher, based on health and need.
Minor moves
Quinn Mathews, one of the early standout prospects for the Cardinals this season, has advanced to High-A Peoria’s rotation, where he’ll follow lefty and former first-round pick Cooper Hjerpe. Matthews, a fourth-round pick out of Stanford last summer, went 3-1 with a 1.47 ERA in six starts for Low-A Palm Beach. Matthews, 23, struck out 52 in 30⅔ innings. He has the potential to advance swiftly.
- Luken Baker homered in his third consecutive game Tuesday in the afternoon half of a doubleheader. Gordon Graceffo pitched a seven-inning complete game for the win in that same game.
- The Cardinals released former Houston Astros reliever Josh James, whom they signed for spring training to see if the righty could regain his power after injury.