Pitcher · 2026
Matthew Liberatore
- Age
- 27
- B/T
- L/L
- Height
- 6' 4"
- Weight
- 215 lb
- Number
- #32
- Born
- November 6, 1999 in Peoria, AZ, USA
- MLB debut
- May 21, 2022
- Drafted
- 2018, round 1
- High school
- Mountain Ridge
- dbWAR
- 2.7 3 season(s)
- IP
- 113.2
- ERA
- 5.15
- FIP
- 4.71
- K/9
- 8.7
- FIP−
- 113 100 = avg
Matthew Liberatore is a starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2026 he struck out 110 batters over 113.2 innings across 23 appearances, 23 of them starts, going 5-9. His ERA of 5.15 was 23.2% higher than the league average of 4.18 — the second worst on his team, and 363rd of 467 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 4.71 FIP suggests he pitched better than his ERA shows. He missed bats on 22.9% of swings (10.8% of every pitch he threw), walked 8.6% of the batters he faced and struck out 22.0%. His 0.5 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.
League context
Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2026.
Platoon splits
How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.
| Split | PA | AB | H | HR | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs LHB | 121 | 108 | 34 | 7 | 10 | 30 | .315 | .380 | .546 | .400 | 24.8% |
| vs RHB | 379 | 337 | 96 | 13 | 33 | 80 | .285 | .349 | .457 | .353 | 21.1% |
Pitch sequencing
What Matthew Liberatore throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.
Select a count to see exactly what Matthew Liberatore throws in it.
Pitch arsenal
What he throws, how hard, and how often it misses in 2026.
| Four-Seam Fastball | 599 | 94.4 | 2,109 | 46.9% | 12.3% | |
| Slider | 457 | 86.4 | 2,659 | 50.5% | 36.8% | |
| Curveball | 315 | 79.6 | 3,054 | 44.4% | 38.5% | |
| Changeup | 281 | 88.6 | 1,796 | 39.9% | 21.0% | |
| Sinker | 171 | 94.4 | 2,129 | 50.9% | 7.9% | |
| Cutter | 80 | 90.5 | 2,470 | 40.0% | 21.1% |
Pitching
Standard and advanced, by season.
| Trend | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 23 | 23 | 113.2 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 130 | 65 | 110 | 43 | 5.15 | 4.71 | 1.52 | 8.7 | 3.4 | 123 | 113 | 0.5 | |
| 2025 | 29 | 29 | 151.2 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 158 | 71 | 122 | 40 | 4.21 | 4.03 | 1.31 | 7.2 | 2.4 | 101 | 97 | 1.8 | |
| 2024 | 60 | 6 | 86.0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 81 | 42 | 76 | 28 | 4.40 | 4.11 | 1.27 | 8.0 | 2.9 | 108 | 101 | 0.5 |
Head to head
Put Matthew Liberatore beside up to three others.
Similar players
Nearest 2026 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.
wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.