Thursday night was a special night for young left-hander Matthew Liberatore.
Liberatore was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays and was once considered their top pitching prospect before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Randy Arozarena trade.
The Cardinals and Rays squared off in their series finale on Thursday night, and Liberatore got a chance to face his old team.
The young lefty has struggled this season, but he pitched the best game of his career thus far, giving St. Louis eight scoreless innings as they beat the Rays, 5-2, and won the series.
On Twitter, the Cardinals posted a graphic to celebrate Liberatore’s accomplishment.
A career day for Matthew Liberatore against Tampa Bay! #STLCards pic.twitter.com/dCrHMTUuRl
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 11, 2023
The 23-year-old recorded seven strikeouts, allowed just two hits, and did not walk a batter against his old team.
The hard-throwing left-hander made his Major League debut last season with the Cardinals.
The trade that sent him to St. Louis is often considered to be one of the more lopsided trades in the recent history of baseball, given that the Rays got Arozarena, who broke the single-postseason home run record in 2020 and earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2021.
However, Liberatore was able to tune out all of the noise, and he gave the Cardinals a glimpse of his full potential.
He earned his second win of the year and lowered his ERA to 5.72.
If Liberatore continues to flash this potential, then the Cardinals may have something special as they assess their internal rotation options for 2024 and what they’ll have to do in the offseason.
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