Cardinals finds themselves in a tight spot they won’t escape.
LOS ANGELES — By Friday night, the Cardinals could find themselves in a tight spot in Game 2 of the regular season, with the bases packed with Dodgers, some 56,000 fans at Dodger Stadium roaring and $700 million megastar Shohei Ohtani stepping to the plate and looking to do damage.
St. Louis can counter with left-hander Zack Thompson, one of the club’s best Spring Training performers and someone who now has many more weapons with which to combat hitters such as Ohtani in big spots following an offseason of work on his pitch arsenal.
Or, in a true twist of fate, the Cards might turn to fellow lefty Matthew Liberatore, who thinks he might have found his calling as a short-burst reliever who features an all-gas, no-brakes style of pitching out of the bullpen.
“I want bottom of the ninth [against Ohtani] if I can get it,” Liberatore said brazenly. “I want the most high-leverage position I can get.”
When Thompson and Liberatore showed up to Spring Training, they were immediately pitted against one another for the same role. With the Cardinals playing on eight consecutive days to start the season and 13 games in 14 days, the club initially toyed with the idea of a six-man rotation. Thompson and Liberatore, both former first-round Draft picks with similar paths to the pros, were supposed to battle for that No. 6 starter role.
When Gray couldn’t make it all the way back and was ruled out for Opening Day, it cleared room for Thompson and Liberatore to make the roster. Thompson, 26, won the starting job after compiling a 2.81 ERA in 16 Spring Training innings. After years of emulating and imitating the fastball/curveball mix of Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw, Thompson worked throughout the offseason to develop a changeup so deceptive that Statcast considers it a forkball because of its lack of spin. Also, Statcast reads his smaller, tighter curve as a cutter. Its best feature: Thompson can more easily land it for strikes than the big overhead “Kershaw curve” he threw before.
Liberatore also made the Opening Day roster and will serve as one of the Cardinals’ two lefties out of the bullpen. That could be a blessing in disguise for the career starter who had much more success as a reliever last season. In 11 games out of the Cards’ ‘pen in 2023, Liberatore had a 2.84 ERA, compared to a 5.88 ERA in his 11 starts.
“I’d say my favorite thing is the simplification of it,” Liberatore said of the role change. “There’s still game-planning and preparation, but there’s a chance to contribute every day, and you don’t have to live or die with your last outing and wait another five days. I like that aspect of it — feeling like I can contribute to the team on a more regular basis.”
Liberatore also made the Opening Day roster and will serve as one of the Cardinals’ two lefties out of the bullpen. That could be a blessing in disguise for the career starter who had much more success as a reliever last season. In 11 games out of the Cards’ ‘pen in 2023, Liberatore had a 2.84 ERA, compared to a 5.88 ERA in his 11 starts.
“I’d say my favorite thing is the simplification of it,” Liberatore said of the role change. “There’s still game-planning and preparation, but there’s a chance to contribute every day, and you don’t have to live or die with your last outing and wait another five days. I like that aspect of it — feeling like I can contribute to the team on a more regular basis.”
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