With the St. Louis Cardinals out of contention for the postseason this year, the focus of the team has shifted to 2024 and assessing what they have in their system before determining their offseason strategy.
Three rotation spots will need to be filled next year.
However, young left-hander Matthew Liberatore made a case to fill one of the spots with a dominant performance on Thursday, as he shut the Tampa Bay Rays out for eight innings and allowed just two hits while striking out seven.
After he was done, Liberatore shared a nice moment with Cardinals legend Adam Wainwright, who gave him a hug to congratulate him on his dominance.
On Twitter, a Cardinals fan posted a photo of Liberatore and Wainwright embracing.
Proud dad moment #stlcards pic.twitter.com/feq7FerIwE
— cardinalsgifs (@cardinalsgifs) August 11, 2023
Wainwright is retiring at the end of the season, which stands to reason why the Cardinals are going to have to fill some rotation spots.
However, he and Liberatore shared a nice moment.
Clearly, Wainwright was proud of the young left-hander and impressed by what he was able to do against the team that drafted him.
The veteran right-hander was once in Liberatore’s shoes.
Nearly two decades ago, Wainwright was first inserted into the Cardinals rotation and was learning from Chris Carpenter.
Now 41, Wainwright learned a lot from Carpenter that he now can pass down to Liberatore.
The two-time World Series champion has taken on a mentor role for young Cardinals pitchers in his final season.
Liberatore clearly learned a lot from Wainwright and was able to apply the Cardinals legend’s lessons in a dominant showing.
NEXT:
Young Cardinals Pitcher Had A Game To Remember Against His Old Team
