Cardinals promote top pitching prospect amid dominant 2024 season

The St. Louis Cardinals may be tumbling out of postseason contention, but that doesn't mean that there aren't things to look forward to in the future.

The team has a few solid pitching options in the minor leagues that may be Major League ready soon. One of them was just promoted to Triple-A Memphis, according to team insider Jeff Jones.

"The Cardinals have promoted Quinn Mathews to Memphis," Jones reported. "Last pitcher to be promoted through four levels in one season was Junior Fernandez in 2019.

Mathews began his 2024 season in the Cardinals Single-A system in Palm Beach before being promoted to High-A Peoria. Between Palm Beach, Peoria, and Double-A Springfield, the 23-year-old left-hander is 8-3 with a 2.27 ERA over his 22 starts. He has also logged 126 2/3 innings, struck out 180 batters, and posted a 0.85 WHIP.

Mathews is obviously making some very important history as well, and he may be the team's next homegrown pitcher to emerge as a frontline starter.

The left-hander was drafted in the fourth round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Stanford. If all goes according to plan in Memphis, perhaps St. Louis could look to Mathews to be a depth option in their rotation for 2025 or even claim a spot out of spring training.

St. Louis is understandably high on him, and with Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn both likely leaving in free agency, the Cardinals could make use of some of their internal options to fill holes in their starting rotation.

It will be interesting to see how he fares in Memphis and if the Cardinals ultimately deem him ready for 2025.

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