Matthew

Liberatore

Liberatore, who was looking at a completely winless second half, gets to finish on a positive note. He ends the year 6-14 with a 5.23 ERA, and he was pretty fortunate to never having been sent to the pen by the Cardinals. His one saving grace was a 23 percent strikeout rate that was a nice improvement over his mark of 19 percent from his first full year as a starter in 2025. That’ll probably keep him in the Cardinals’ rotation mix to open next year, but he shouldn’t be promised anything.

Liberatore struck out two and walked three, keeping St. Louis in a game it eventually lost 6-5 in 10 innings. The club’s Opening Day starter is up to 149 1/3 innings this season, just a few shy of beating last year’s career high. While he has slightly increased his K-BB% from a season ago, the results haven’t been as good, with his ERA only falling to 5.36 after Wednesday’s performance. He’s lined up to face the Pirates on the road in his next start.

The left-hander also issued three free passes in the ballgame while striking out two. All of the damage done against him came on a pair of solo blasts off the bat of Chase Meidroth — one to lead off the game and another to open the third inning. Liberatore got seven swings and misses on 72 offerings on the night, registering a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll look to get back in the win column as he carries a 5.53 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and a 146/52 K/BB ratio (143 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Giants.

Liberatore gave up four hits, walked two and struck out three. He fell to 5-14 with the loss. Liberatore had recorded 25 strikeouts over his last three starts entering play Saturday, but didn’t miss enough Rockies bats, leading to just three strikeouts. He has a 5.57 ERA. Liberatore is lined up to face the White Sox at home next weekend.

Liberatore struck out nine today for the second time in three starts. He’s now done that five times this year after never doing so in 53 career starts coming into 2026. Unfortunately, though, the extra strikeouts just haven’t brought Liberatore much success. Two more homers today took his season total to 25 in 134 2/3 innings, which is a big reason why he’s 5-13 with a 5.41 ERA. He’ll pitch in Colorado next weekend.

Liberatore lost a fourth straight start to 5-12 with a 5.44 ERA. Still, his job security has improved due to injuries to Andre Pallante and Hunter Dobbins. He’ll likely face the Pirates on Sunday.

Liberatore finished with a quality start as he struck out nine without walking anyone. All three runs he surrendered came via a Sal Stewart homer in the bottom of the sixth. The left-hander has been inconsistent with a 5.04 ERA on the season, but Wednesday’s outing was one of his better performances despite the late stumble. He’s scheduled for a home start against the Orioles next time out.

He deserved better here. Liberatore threw five one-hit innings to start the game, induced a pop up to Pete-Crow Armstrong with runners on first and third and nobody out, then watched helplessly as George Soriano allowed a three-run homer to Seiya Suzuki to cash the inherited runners. Liberatore has a 3.96 ERA and 1.32 WHIP over his last seven starts. We wouldn’t recommend streaming him in Cincinnati next week, but he could be useful in the right matchup down the stretch.

Liberatore gave up nine hits — one of those a homer — and two walks, and he struck out three. It’s a far-cry from the six scoreless the southpaw threw last weekend against the Blue Jays, and much more indicative of his struggles on the season as seen in a 5.15 ERA. He’ll have a chance to rebound against the Cubs on Friday, but there’s more risk than reward in Liberatore’s profile.

Liberatore allowed one hit and walked one while striking out seven. He threw 66 percent of his pitches for strikes and had a 13 percent swinging strike rate. In fact, this is now his fourth straight start with a swinging strike rate of at least 13 percent, so even though the results have been inconsistent, Liberatore is starting to miss more bats. He’ll try to keep this going at home against the Rockies next week.