The St. Louis Cardinals are promoting pitching prospect Quinn Mathews (STL #7, via MLB Pipeline) to MLB. He’ll make his debut this weekend against the Toronto Blue Jays, per Derrick Goold.
Mathews, 25, is an older prospect and has dealt with some injuries.
After a stellar introductory season, in which he was the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Year, he stumbled in 2025.
Due to injury, Mathews was limited to 99 innings and performed at a mediocre level. He struggled to find the zone, and his strikeout stuff didn’t seem quite as crisp.
This season, Mathews came out of the gate looking nearly the same. Walks plagued his outings, and hitters feasted with so much traffic on the bases.
Fortunately, somewhere along the way, Mathews found the strike zone and started performing as expected.
Before his promotion, his ERA stood at a more-than-respectable 3.13, with an elite 111 strikeouts in only 92 innings.
Mathews was a Stanford product, and famously threw a 156-pitch complete game to will his team to an eventual College World Series berth.
The St. Louis staff lacks that kind of dominance, but isn’t short on the bulldog mentality. Starters Kyle Leahy, Michael McGreevy, and Dustin May, although he’s likely to be traded, are top-tier competitors on the mound.
Mathews, though, brings something that none of them can offer: strikeouts–and plenty to spare. The Cardinals rotation ranks among the worst in MLB at setting hitters down with strikes, and they’ve been missing strike three for years.
The new regime in St. Louis has made it a priority to bring in high-ceiling arms who can transform the organization. Mathews fits that profile, and with his debut, the first domino falls in what should be an exciting era of promotions in The Lou.
Fans can’t contain themselves over the recent news.
Social Media Reacts to Cardinals Calling Up Quinn Mathews
Here’s what people are saying:
Aram Leighton: “Quinn Mathews is making his big league deput with plenty of momentum on his side after a shaky start to the year. Last 9 starts: 52.1 IP, 1.55 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 31 K%, 10 BB%. Command still a question, but the stuff is sharp. Slider and changeup especially. Heater will play.”
MLB Pipeline: “The #STLCards are calling up their No. 7 prospect, Quinn Mathews, to make his MLB debut on Saturday. The 25-year-old LHP has a 3.13 ERA with 111 K’s at Triple-A this season.”
Dani Wexelman: “Big fan of Quinn Mathews. In a 2023 super regional, Stanford was facing elimination; Mathews threw 156 pitches in a complete game victory to help the Cardinal play one more game. They ended up winning and punching their ticket to Omaha. He’s a guy.”
Kyle Reis: “I am excited for Quinn Mathews. You should be excited for Quinn Mathews. He is a very talented pitcher, and he’s quirky. Also, be cool, ya know?”
Brenden Schaeffer: “News from Oli Marmol: Quinn Mathews will start for the Cardinals on Saturday in Toronto.”
Benjamin Hochman: “The first column I ever wrote about Quinn Mathews, who will make his MLB debut for the #STLCards on Saturday.”
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