St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz will draw the start in Wednesday's game against the division-rival Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. It will be Matz's second start of the year, and he'll be pitching on three days of rest after getting two outs out of the bullpen on Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers. The 33-year-old veteran southpaw has pitched well for the Red Birds early on in 2025 -- he's allowed four earned runs on 15 hits (no homers) while walking only three and striking out 14 in 20 innings, but he'll still be a pretty volatile streaming option in a hitter-friendly ballpark this week. In his lone start this year on April 16 against the Houston Astros, Matz got the win by giving up just one earned run in five innings while walking none and striking out five.
The Athletic's Katie Woo writes that the St. Louis Cardinals seem inclined to use left-handed veteran Steven Matz in the starting rotation to start the season. However, it's not a guarantee, especially is young pitchers Andre Pallante and Michael McGreevy continue their strong springs. The main thing is that Matz has been healthy in camp, and the Cardinals will get a better sense of how effective the 33-year-old southpaw will be over the final few weeks of Grapefruit League action. Barring a late-spring trade, Woo believes Matz will be on the Opening Day roster as a back-end starter. Matz has allowed just one run with three walks and three strikeouts in five innings over his two spring starts. Since Matz has mostly dealt with injuries the last couple of seasons, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him eventually moved to a long-relief role when St. Louis feels Pallante or McGreevy are ready.
Cardinals Continuing To Explore Trades For Steven Matz
According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, the St. Louis Cardinals are continuing to explore a potential trade for left-handed pitcher Steven Matz. Earlier this offseason, it was reported that the southpaw, along with Eric Fedde were drawing interest on the trade market. Woo said that with Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas having no-trade clauses Matz would likely be moved in order to shed salary, especially if the team cannot find a suitor for Nolan Arenado. Woo noted that the team would prefer to hold Fedde until the trade deadline. Last season, Matz logged just 44 1/3 innings of work with a 5.08 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Currently, he sits as the No.5 starter in rotation but if he were to be moved, then top prospect Quinn Mathews or Michael McGreevy would have a chance to open the season in the majors. Mathews held a strong 2.76 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP with 202 punchouts across 143 innings in his first minor league season.
Erick Fedde, Steven Matz Gaining Interest On Trade Market
According to Mark Feinsand, Bryan Hoch, and John Denton of MLB.com, St. Louis Cardinals starting pitchers Erick Fedde and Steven Matz are gaining interest on the trade market from several clubs such as the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians. With the Cardinals looking to reshape their roster and shed payroll, moving these options could allow their younger starting pitchers to have more opportunities during the 2025 season. Fedde opened the 2024 season in Chicago but was dealt to the Cardinals at the trade deadline. Across 177 1/3 frames, the 31-year-old posted a 3.30 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Matz has battled injuries over the past two seasons and pitched only 44 1/3 frames last summer and posted a 5.08 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. If the Cardinals were to move one of these arms, this could create a path for their top pitching prospects, Tink Hence and Quinn Mathews, to spend most of the 2025 summer in the big leagues.
St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz, who was activated from the 60-day injured list on Sunday, will make the start for Tuesday's contest against the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. The move to start Matz will give right-hander Erick Fedde an extra day of rest this week. Matz was available out of the bullpen on Sunday for the series finale in the Bronx against the New York Yankees, but he didn't pitch. The 33-year-old veteran southpaw has made only six starts for the Cards in 2024, and not since April 30. He wasn't very good in those six starts, yielding a 6.18 ERA and 1.73 WHIP while striking out only 17 and walking 11 in 27 2/3 innings, so fantasy managers should probably be looking to avoid him on Tuesday against the first-place Brewers. Matz is likely to head back to the bullpen after Tuesday's spot start, too, so leave him on the waiver wire in mixed leagues.
Steven Matz To Make Another Rehab Start On Tuesday
St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz (back) will make what the team hopes is one final minor-league rehab start for Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday when the RedBirds visit Iowa. Manager Oliver Marmol said Matz's target will be around 90 pitches, the same as his previous start. He allowed four runs (one homer) on nine hits, one walk and a hit batter on Aug. 21 for Memphis, throwing 85 pitches (58 strikes) while striking out three in five innings. The veteran southpaw hasn't pitched for the Cardinals since April 30 due to persistent back pain. Matz is expected to rejoin the starting rotation once he finishes his rehab, but there's no easy answer to which spot he'll fill. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak mentioned the possibility of a six man rotation down the stretch, which might be the easiest answer.
St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz (back) is likely to have at least one more minor-league rehab start before the team reinstates him from the 60-day injured list. Matz allowed four earned runs on nine hits while walking one and striking out three in five innings (85 pitches) in his third rehab start for Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday night, and the Cardinals would like to see a little bit more from the 33-year-old southpaw before bringing him back to the majors. When Matz does return, it's possible that the Red Birds use a six-man starting rotation to close out the year to accommodate Matz. However, there's also the possibility that Matz is used in long relief. Either way, fantasy managers in mixed leagues can probably ignore him the rest of the way. Before his back injury, Matz had a 6.18 ERA, 1.73 WHIP and career-worst 13.4% strikeout rate in six starts.
St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz (back) has been transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list on Friday. This news comes just two days away from Matz being eligible to come off the injured list. He recently had a setback with a strained back, so it looks like the southpaw is going to need a little more time. The 33-year-old probably won't be back in the rotation until late July at the earliest. Matz wasn't pitching well before the injury, so fantasy managers should be able to find a better option. It's worth noting that right-hander Gordon Graceffo has been recalled. He could be an option to fill in for Matz, but fantasy managers can use a wait-and-see approach here.
St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz (back) has suffered a setback in his rehab process and will be shut down for at least two weeks. He will essentially be forced to restart his throwing progression. The veteran woke up feeling tightness after his latest rehab start in which he tossed three-plus scoreless innings on June 16. Matz has been on the 15-day injured list with low back soreness and has not appeared with the Cards since April 30. It's been a difficult season from both a health and performance standpoint for the 33-year-old who owns a 6.18 ERA across six big-league starts, striking out just 13.4% of the hitters he has faced. Add in an 8.7% BB% and Matz's 4.7% K-BB% is a career-low, albeit in a small sample size. He remains off the fantasy radar for the time being.
St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz (back) played catch off the mound at Busch Stadium on Friday, according to manager Oliver Marmol. Matz will throw at a much higher intensity on Monday. Matz is dealing with a protruding disc in his lower back and was placed on the 15-day injured list a week ago with a lower-back strain. Given the severity of the 32-year-old veteran southpaw's injury, fantasy managers in deeper leagues shouldn't be expecting Matz to return when he's eligible to come off the IL. In addition to Matz's pretty serious injury, he wasn't good in his six starts before getting hurt, going 1-2 with a 6.18 ERA and 1.73 WHIP with only 17 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings. Matz probably isn't worth holding onto in shallow-mixed fantasy leagues at this point.
Steven Matz
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Cardinals
