Quinn

Mathews

Mathews allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out nine. He dominated with his changeup, posting a 42 percent whiff rate and a 34 percent CSW. Mathews had battled some shoulder soreness earlier in the summer and experienced a rough stretch upon his return; however, he appears to be settling in. The 24-year-old has a 3.63 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, and 72/50 K/BB ratio in 62 innings in Triple-A. If he keeps his command in order, he might get some MLB starts in September.

He struck out seven but also walked five and threw only 41 of his 84 pitches for strikes. The left-hander had just a 39 percent zone rate on his four-seam fastball, but his slider was tremendous on the day, posting a 58 percent whiff rate on its own. It’s been a rough summer for the 24-year-old, but Mathews has clear upside if he can just continue to improve his command. He may get a few MLB starts to end the season if the Cardinals fall out of the playoff race, but he’ll likely need to show more in order for that to happen.

He allowed four hits while walking three and striking out four, but only 47 of his 81 pitches went for strikes. The Cardinals are going to need to see more consistency from Mathews before he threatens for MLB innings.

Mathews also walked six and struck out one while throwing only 22 of his 55 pitches for strikes. There’s no word on if the 24-year-old was injured, but he did battle shoulder soreness earlier in the season, so this kind of outing is particularly concerning.

Mathews allowed one hit and two walks while striking out six. He missed over a month while battling shoulder soreness, but he has looked good in his three starts since returning, posting a 17/6 K/BB ratio and 1.38 ERA in 13 innings. Of course, 13 innings over three starts is not great length, so he will need to continue to build up his pitch count before he’s a potential name for the Cardinals’ rotation.

Mathews struck out four, allowed one hit, and didn’t issue any walks. The talented 24-year-old has been sidelined since April 11 with a shoulder injury, so the Cardinals will be cautious with how they ramp him back up. However, he could push for MLB innings later this summer if everything with his shoulder progresses well.

Mathews walked three batters and only recorded one strikeout in his first regular-season start following an impressive spring performance in Cardinals camp. The 24-year-old southpaw is widely regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball after last year’s velocity spike led to a surge in strikeouts. He’ll most likely be pushing for a midseason promotion to join St. Louis’ starting rotation mix.

Mathews was a long shot to make the St. Louis rotation out of spring training, but he is widely considered one of the top pitching prospects in the Cardinals’ system, and he has a good chance of making starts for the team before 2025 comes to a close.

Mathews averaged 94 mph with his four-seam fastball and got multiple whiffs on his elite changeup, including a strikeout of Vladmir Guerrero Jr. It was an impressive outing from Mathews, but the 24-year-old is not on the 40-man roster, and has only thrown 16 2/3 innings at Triple-A, so it seems highly unlikely he breaks camp with the Cardinals. It’s more likely that the Cardinals will start with Erick Fedde, Andre Pallante, and Steven Matz in the rotation and then maybe trade one or more of those guys to free up space for Mathews and Tink Hence over the summer.

Neither Wetherholt or Mathews have a real shot at breaking camp with the Cardinals, but the pair of top prospects will have an opportunity this spring to leave a lasting impression on the big-league club. Wetherholt was selected seventh overall in the 2024 MLB Draft and looked extremely impressive in his 29-game professional debut at Low-A Palm Beach, posting an .805 OPS with two homers and two steals. Mathews made arguably the biggest jump of any pitching prospect last year, turning an unexpected uptick in fastball velocity into a sparkling 2.76 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 202/49 K/BB ratio across 143 1/3 innings (26 starts) across four levels to close the year at Triple-A Memphis.