Why Matthew Liberatore will start in St. Louis while Michael McGreevy is in Memphis

The answer may not be fair, but it's not too complicated either.

Michael McGreevy aced his spring training assignment. After a sharp entrance to the Major Leagues last summer-he compiled a 1.96 ERA with a stubborn 0.78 WHIP-McGreevy got to work this spring with a 1.08 ERA in four starts. He struck out 12 and walked zero batters. In any other universe, he starts the season as a member of the big league rotation. Instead, he will begin his 2025 campaign in Memphis, closer to great BBQ but six hours away from the real goal.

The fifth and final spot will go to Matthew Liberatore, who was sharp in six spring appearances with a 1.62 ERA. What may perplex people is that Liberatore only made one start this month, which would be three less than his competitor. He has made 24 MLB starts and offered mediocre results at best, finding more fluidity in the bullpen. Liberatore has made 67 appearances out of the bullpen in his three seasons with the Cardinals, leaving fans to believe that his role remains undefined after all this time.

If there was any concrete reasoning for why the better pitcher (smaller sample size warning and all) isn’t lining up at Busch Stadium on Thursday, it’s the simple fact that one of them has time on his side while the other doesn’t have such a vast space of luxury. Liberatore, who will be 26 in November, seems to be circling the runway repeatedly due to unfit team contracts (hello, Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz) and all-around misusage.

Oli Marmol and company need an answer on Liberatore. In other words, what can he do at this level if given a real shot and not scattered remains of the opportunity presented only when the ship is pointed downhill already? They know that he has a problem with allowing runners on base too often, as evidenced by his 1.426 WHIP in 182.1 innings. They traded to the Cardinals for Randy Arozarena in a deal that hasn’t aged well for St. Louis; the pressure is extra for the team to make something out of Liberatore before shipping him elsewhere.

Liberatore is a 2018 first-round pick who came here in a trade that made St. Louis fans shake their heads more than seem excited by the possibility of a young southpaw making waves. As MLB.com’s John Denton wrote, he is a poster boy for the troubles facing this team and their front office. He’s the risk that hasn’t panned out or one of the biggest in a sea of bad ideas. Is it as bad as trading Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen to the Miami Marlins for Marcell Ozuna, whom they didn’t sign long-term and now watch mash with the Atlanta Braves? No, but it’s currently stinking like a fart trapped in a minivan that’s parked in a hot parking garage.

McGreevy is a sign of the team’s robust rotation future, so the questions surrounding his ability are nonexistent at the moment. Liberatore doesn’t have that luxury, so he is on the roster while the 24-year-old M&M is starting his year with Memphis.

Do I think it makes sense? Yes and no. Matz presents an issue for the team because the sixth man/long arm in the bullpen role he is filling would quickly fall to Liberatore if his $11 million rested on a different team’s payroll. The Cardinals even employed Liberatore as a swing guy in the spring, which only made things more confusing when the final roster moves were announced on Sunday.

In the long run, we can see this as an unfortunate sign of the times. Somewhere, Joe Pesci’s gangster from The Irishman pleads with Cards fans with the immortal phrase, “It’s what it is.” That’s what he told Robert De Niro’s hitman when the decision to whack Al Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa fell on Frank Sheehan’s lap. It’ll make sense when we’re older, I guess. My dad used to tell me that all the time. In the moment, it stunk. Later on, I understood.

McGreevy will only use it as fuel to get even sharper with his pitches. The heat on the fifth spot will stay warm, as will Liberatore’s seat. Marmol can tell the media that this isn’t a tryout or a cup of coffee, but I don’t think the team will be able to keep the younger arm down there if he’s shredding teams and Liberatore is putting guys like base like a left-handed Todd Wellemeyer.

Time will tell. Before I go back to work, here are a few other notes from the roster moves:

~Welcome back to the bigs, Victor Scott II and Luken Baker. I hope they challenge, rake, and thrive up here so much that uncomfortable decisions reach John Mozeliak’s desk in his last season as the man in charge of the team’s makeup.

~No offense, but I am falling off the Nolan Gorman train. He has a tepid spring, and he still strikes out too much. The only goodness that brings to fans is the breeze it provides the lower level of seating along the first baseline. Could he go somewhere else and be a decent stud? Maybe, but his clock is running along as the weeks pass.

~I’ll write more about this later this week, but I expect Willson Contreras to go off this summer. Moving to first base takes the pressure off the knees and the everyday need to prepare for catching duties. He would have put together an MVP-type season if not for two freak injuries in 2024. He had an excellent spring training, too. Watch out.

Until next time, be safe out there and dish out some kindness to strangers while retaining patience for yourself.