MILWAUKEE — The Cardinals will lean on left-hander Matthew Liberatore to start their series opener against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday in Anaheim, California.
Liberatore, who faced four batters in relief on Friday, has become the default fifth starter as the team nears two full weeks without Steven Matz in the rotation. The Cardinals have continued to keep Liberatore as a relief option out of the bullpen.
Liberatore, a former top prospect who also spent a portion of last season in the starting rotation in place of Matz, moved to the bullpen at the end of spring training.
Liberatore seemed set to excel in a bullpen role, but he made a spot start in the last homestand. Now, Liberatore will make another start after the Cardinals spent the first three days of their trip without naming a fifth starter.
“He gives us our best chance, bottom line,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said before Sunday’s series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers.
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Liberatore will not be fully stretched out for Monday’s outing, but the Cardinals could push him past the 50 pitches he threw in his last spot start. That was against the Chicago White Sox on May 5.
Marmol would not say whether the Cardinals planned to continue stretching out Liberatore to formally take over the fifth starter spot.
The club initially expected Matz’s absence because of a lower back strain to be on the shorter side. That appears in doubt after Marmol announced that Matz will not throw a bullpen session on Monday as previously scheduled.
Matz had lingering discomfort after playing catch from the mound last week. He’ll receive an injection, and he will not throw for the next week, Marmol said.
Matz’s last start came against the Tigers on April 30 in Detroit. He said after that start that he’d felt back tightness while running between his previous start and the start against the Tigers, but he tried to push through it.
He struggled through 3 1/3 innings and gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks in Detroit. He gave up a home run and also hit a batter in that start. Matz went on the injured list May 1 because a lower back strain.
Left-hander Zack Thompson began the season in the starting rotation in place of Sonny Gray as Gray recovered from a hamstring injury suffered in spring training. However, Thompson experienced a significant drop in his velocity while pitching out of the bullpen. The Cardinals have connected Thompson’s lower velocity with his weight loss over the offseason.
Thompson has been with Triple-A Memphis since April 24. In his most recent start, on Thursday, he allowed one run in three innings, but he walked seven batters.
Thompson’s velocity has reached higher than 95 mph in recent outings in the minors, but sustaining that velocity remains a challenge. His fastball averaged 90.2 mph in his latest start.
Thompson and Liberatore came into the season as the Cardinals’ top experienced starting pitcher depth options, along with left-hander Drew Rom. Rom suffered from biceps tendinitis this spring and had shoulder surgery this month.
The Cardinals will go with Liberatore rather than call up an inexperienced prospect for his major league debut.
“He’s not stretched out, but he gives us our best chance out of anybody that can fill that spot at the moment,†Marmol said.
Gorman focuses on mental game
Second baseman Nolan Gorman went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI and reached base three times on Saturday night. That came on the heels of his ninth-inning home run on Friday night.
Gorman went 0 for three Sunday in the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory over the Brewers and now is batting .187 this season despite entering that game with a team-best sweet-spot rate of 44.7% on batted balls, per Baseball Savant.
“I feel like a lot of balls haven’t fell my way, guys making good plays on balls,†Gorman said after Saturday’s game. “I’m not necessarily hitting the ball too hard, but when I do put the ball in play, (it’s) right at people. I’m taking good at-bats lately, walking. Everything feels good.â€
In his past eight games, Gorman has gone three for 21 at the plate. He also has walked as many times as he struck out (seven).
“It’s just working more on the mental side of the game, taking everything one pitch at a time and just doing the best that I can at that — winning every pitch,†Gorman said.
Gorman, who turned 24 on Friday, also said he’d begun keeping a journal in recent weeks. He said it isn’t focused on scouting reports or recounting how a particular pitcher attacked him. He said the journal helps keep him “steady.â€