St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Matthew Liberatore exited Thursday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals due to fatigue.
Manager Oliver Marmol downplayed any serious concerns, noting that Liberatore felt fine physically but was struggling with his mechanics. “He said he felt good, there was no pain or injury,” Marmol explained. “It just wasn’t coming together for him tonight. We ran some tests after he came out, and everything looked fine.”
Liberatore was pulled in the fifth inning after 71 pitches, the last being a 73.8-mph curveball that resulted in a walk to Maikel Garcia, who later scored on a Salvador Perez single. Kansas City won the second game of the doubleheader 7-5.
“I wasn’t worried about pain or fatigue,” said Liberatore. “I was going to keep going until they took the ball from me. I just couldn’t quite find a way to adjust before it was too late.”
Notably, his fastball velocity dropped from 96 mph early in the game to 89 mph by the fifth inning. Marmol pointed out that once the velocity dipped, the team decided not to risk further issues.
This marks Liberatore’s second consecutive rough outing. The 25-year-old lefty allowed seven runs on eight hits over four-plus innings. He didn’t undergo imaging tests after the game but did go through other evaluations, which came back normal.
Reflecting on the performance, Liberatore said the mechanical struggles likely led to early fatigue. “It’s hard to keep velocity when you’re out of rhythm,” he said.
Liberatore had secured a starting spot out of spring training after spending most of last season in the bullpen. Prior to Thursday, he had pitched six or more innings in eight of 12 starts and owned a 2.42 ERA since April 13, ranking seventh among NL starters.