Every year, or at least every year since 2012, we’ve taken some time after the season was over to look at the past 162 games through the lens of the players that played them (and the management that was in charge of them). Last year, the Exit Interview series spent less time digging into splits and finding numerical oddities and more time reflecting on the player and their season. It was a style that seemed to work so we’re going to bring it back again this year. The legendary cardinalsgifs is back to bring us excellent series art, so it’s all downhill after you see that!
Player: Matthew Liberatore
Stats: 3-4, 60 G, 86.0 IP, 81 H, 11 HR, 28 BB, 76 K, 4.40 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 1.267 WHIP, 0.3 bWAR
Statcast: 7.1% barrel, 31.7% sweet spot, 111.3 max exit velocity, .313 wOBA, .316 xwOBA, 21.2 K%, 7.8 BB%
Grade: C
It feels like Liberatore’s career path may now be set. He spent the entire season in the majors, yet only started six games. In those starts, he did pick up a win but also posted an ERA of 6.35. The other 54 games out of the bullpen, he wound up with a 3.69 ERA and even closed down eight games. The last two months of the season, he had a 2.67 ERA coming out of the pen, perhaps an indication that he was really starting to settle into the reliever role. It’s not what we would have hoped for, especially given the expectations at the time of the trade, but a reliable reliever, especially in leverage situations, isn’t anything to sneeze at.
Is he going to be a reliable leverage reliever, though? He definitely made strides toward that but his high leverage slash line allowed was .281/.344/.474. His strikeout and walk rate wasn’t much different in either role. He was strong against lefties (.584 OPS) but as we know the LOOGY is no longer a reasonable career choice. There’s no doubt that Liberatore has taken strides toward being a solid major leaguer but it remains to be seen if that will be a path that he continues on.
What’s in store for 2025: Liberatore still has one option remaining so he’s in no danger of slipping out of the organization just yet (unless someone wants to trade for him). He’ll come to Jupiter with a bullpen spot basically locked up, though where he stands on the pecking order remains to be seen. 2025 is going to be a big year for him, though, to see if he can start developing on the promise or if he is just going to be an interchangable part.
