The St. Louis Cardinals entered the second half of the season hoping to strengthen their postseason position, but the results have gone in the opposite direction.
After dropping six of their first eight games following the All-Star break, St. Louis has slipped to 52-51 and now sits more than two games behind the final National League Wild Card spot. The recent downturn has not only pushed the Cardinals out of the playoff picture but has also raised fresh questions about their strategy ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
For much of the season, the Cardinals exceeded expectations and looked capable of buying at the deadline. However, with the club now on the outside looking in, a major acquisition appears increasingly unlikely. Considering the organization was prepared to embrace a significant rebuild during the offseason, the latest stretch could convince the front office to take a more conservative approach rather than making aggressive win-now moves.
One move the Cardinals should strongly consider, regardless of whether they buy or sell, is reinforcing the starting rotation from within by promoting top pitching prospect Quinn Matthews.
The 25-year-old left-hander continues to make an overwhelming case in Triple-A Memphis. In his most recent outing, Matthews delivered a season-best 10-strikeout performance while matching his longest start of the year with seven innings.
“Quinn Mathews has been knocking on the door of a callup to the big leagues, and another superb start for Triple-A Memphis on Friday will only help his case,” MLB.com’s Max Ralph wrote on Saturday. “The Cardinals’ No. 7 prospect posted a season-high 10 strikeouts while tying his season-long outing of seven innings, holding Durham to just one unearned run.
“Mathews, the 2024 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, now has a sparkling 1.59 ERA in his last 10 starts and a strong 3.13 ERA on the season overall. He’s allowed more than three hits just once in this dominant 10-start stretch, and his 111 total strikeouts across 19 starts leads all Cardinals Minor Leaguers.”
Selected in the fourth round of the 2023 MLB Draft, Matthews has rapidly climbed through St. Louis’ farm system. The talented southpaw established himself as one of baseball’s premier pitching prospects after recording more than 200 strikeouts in 2024, and he has continued building on that success with another outstanding season.
If the Cardinals move any veteran arms before the trade deadline, Matthews could be an ideal replacement. His consistent dominance, ability to miss bats, and left-handed presence would provide an immediate boost to the rotation while giving one of the organization’s brightest young pitchers valuable major league experience during the stretch run.