photo: Quinn Mathews (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
With the lowest FIP, WHIP and walk rate, most strikeouts, highest strikeout to walk ratio and percent, third lowest ERA and third highest strikeout rate, Quinn Mathews compiled the top overall pitching performance in the St. Louis Cardinals system in July.
It is time to select The Cardinal Nation’s July Pitcher of the Month. This article covers hurlers in all roles across every level of the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system.
As a reminder, this is NOT the “Pitcher of the Month Among Top Prospects”. Every player in the system has an equal chance, with their performance during the month used to differentiate the best of the best. Age and level, which are key prospect considerations, are not the major factors here.
Guidelines
To qualify, a pitcher must have thrown at least 10 innings during July. Forty-nine of 105 active pitchers made the first cut. To reach the list of seven finalists, an ERA below 2.00 was required. This group consists of two starters, two swingmen and three relievers.
Two finalists, both relievers, allowed no or one earned run all month resulting in ERAs under 1.00. But the pitcher who threw the most innings in the system in July also logged a most impressive 1.04 ERA. It would be hard to beat Quinn Mathews. But as always, there is more to our process than just selecting the pitcher with the lowest ERA.
The finalists represent five of the six levels in the system with the only exception being the rookie Dominican Summer League. Double-A Springfield and the Florida Complex League each provided two finalists with Memphis, Peoria and Palm Beach contributing one each.
The oldest finalist is Memphis’ Mathews at 25 years of age. The youngest two, 19-year-olds Earle Zulueta and Gabriel Chinchilla, played in the FCL.
Mathews is the only repeat finalist from June.
Counting Stats
In this first table, the finalists are listed in ascending ERA order.
| July pitchers | Tm | W | L | SV | ERA | G | GS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | WHIP |
| Jesús García | PB | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.87 | |
| Christian Worley | Peo | 1 | 1 | 0.82 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 1.09 | |
| Quinn Mathews | Mem | 1 | 1.04 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 1 | 0.77 | ||
| Earle Zulueta | FCL | 2 | 1.35 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 1.20 | ||
| Gabriel Chinchilla | FCL/PB | 1 | 1.69 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 22 | 2 | 1.36 | ||
| Liam Doyle | Spr | 1 | 2 | 1.74 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 21 | 2 | 1.21 | |
| Randel Clemente | Spr | 2 | 3 | 1.80 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 19 | 0 | 1.40 |
Working in relief for Palm Beach, Jesus Garcia did not allow an earned run all month, though two unearned runs scored on his watch. A level up, Christian Worley yielded three runs all month, but only one was earned for a 0.82 ERA.
Mathews dominated International League hitters with his 1.04 July ERA the best among the rest. His strikeout total of 28 was first among finalists and third in the system (after fellow prospects Jurrangelo Cijntje and Yhoiker Fajardo).
Zulueta and Chinchilla posted strong ERAs of 1.35 and 1.69, respectively. Next is a particularly good name to see, Springfield’s Liam Doyle at 1.74. Rounding out the finalist list is underrated Double-A reliever Randel Clemente at 1.80.
Only two of the finalists, Mathews and Garcia, logged July WHIPs under 1.00, led by Mathews at 0.77.
Advanced stats
Here are additional statistics from the finalists in the ascending FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) sequence.
| July pitchers | Age | IP | K/BB | K% | BB% | K-BB% | BAA | BABIP | WHIP | ERA | FIP |
| Quinn Mathews | 25 | 26 | 4.7 | 30.1% | 6.5% | 23.7% | 0.163 | 0.228 | 0.77 | 1.04 | 2.68 |
| Christian Worley | 24 | 11 | 2.5 | 31.9% | 12.8% | 19.1% | 0.146 | 0.240 | 1.09 | 0.82 | 2.82 |
| Randel Clemente | 24 | 10 | 1.9 | 43.2% | 22.7% | 20.5% | 0.121 | 0.286 | 1.40 | 1.80 | 3.17 |
| Jesús García | 20 | 10 | 1.3 | 13.2% | 10.5% | 2.6% | 0.147 | 0.179 | 0.87 | 0.00 | 3.95 |
| Liam Doyle | 22 | 20 | 1.8 | 25.3% | 14.5% | 10.8% | 0.183 | 0.229 | 1.21 | 1.74 | 4.64 |
| Gabriel Chinchilla | 19 | 21 | 1.8 | 25.3% | 13.8% | 11.5% | 0.227 | 0.294 | 1.36 | 1.69 | 4.79 |
| Earle Zulueta | 19 | 13 | 1.2 | 19.6% | 16.1% | 3.6% | 0.149 | 0.147 | 1.20 | 1.35 | 6.56 |
At 43.2%, Clemente had a truly exceptional July strikeout rate. Also above 30% were Worley (31.9%) and Mathews (30.1% – best among starter finalists). At the other end of the strikeout spectrum are Garcia (13.2%) and Zulueta (19.6%).
Mathews was the stingiest finalist in issuing walks, the only one under 10% at 6.5%. That is especially encouraging given that free passes have been Mathews’ biggest challenge recently. Clemente stood out again, but this time for the wrong reason, a walk rate of 22.7%.
Mathews also posted the leading strikeout minus walk percentage of 23.7%. Because of his high strikeout and high walk rates, Clemente was next at 20.5%. This month, bringing up the K-BB percentage rear are also the two lowest strikeout rate finalists, Garcia and Zulueta.
In strikeout to walk ratio, the results were similar with Mathews on top at 4.7 to 1 and Garcia and Zulueta at the bottom at 1.2 and 1.3, respectively.
Relievers Clemente (.121), Worley (.146) and Garcia (.147) held opposing hitters to the lowest collective batting average. All finalists came in well under .200 excepting Chinchilla at .227.
None of the finalists had a high BABIP (batting average on balls in play), with all coming in under .300. At the other end were unsustainable low BABIPs below .200 by Zulueta (.147) and Garcia (.179).
FIP or fielding independent pitching puts these July results into perspective. Every finalist has a FIP more than 1.5 runs per nine innings higher than his ERA and many are two or three runs higher.
With almost a four-run gap between his ERA and FIP, Garcia drops down the list. Worley remains second in FIP, with Mathews ascending to the top at 2.68. The latter two are the only finalists with a sub-3.00 FIP.
Considering all results, Mathews is The Cardinal Nation’s July Pitcher of the Month.
Mathews logged the lowest FIP, WHIP and walk rate, most strikeouts, highest strikeout to walk ratio and percent, third lowest ERA and third highest strikeout rate from among the July finalists.
About the winner
The acclaimed pitcher from Stanford became a Cardinal in the fourth round of the 2023 draft. Mathews posted a phenomenal first professional season in 2024 that included the MiLB-leading strikeout total and Pitcher of the Year honors from both the Cardinals organization and The Cardinal Nation.
Mathews struggled with injury and inconsistency in 2025 including a walk rate that doubled over 2024 but still posted good enough results to remain a top prospect in the system.
In 2026 at the time of his promotion, the 25-year-old led the International League in strikeouts (111), opponent batting average (.170) and he ranked in the Top 5 in ERA (3.13, 2nd), games started (19, 2nd), innings pitched (92, 5th) and WHIP (1.14, 4th).
Recently, Mathews was exceptional. Since May 28, he posted a 4-0 record with a 1.60 ERA and 67 strikeouts over 56 1/3 innings pitched (10.7 K/9 IP) with Memphis.
In his Saturday MLB debut in Toronto, Mathews pitched a credible five innings, allowing two runs.
How last month’s winners fared
The St. Louis Cardinals selected starter Mason Molina as their June Pitcher of the Month across the system, whereas our choice was reliever Luis Gastelum. Both went on to spend July at a new level. Molina made four starts for Memphis while Gastelum joined St. Louis’ bullpen on July 8.
Since joining the Redbirds, Molina has a 9.42 ERA in 14 1/3 innings. His batting average against is .328 with 12 walks. That diminishes the value of his 20 strikeouts.
Gastelum had a rough start to the MLB phase of his career, charged with 10 runs, seven earned, in 10 innings for a 6.30 ERA. A big contributor is four home runs allowed in July. Most recently, he was charged with three runs in 1 1/3 innings to open the new month on Saturday, August 1.
What is next?
The Cardinals organization should name their selections as July Player and Pitcher of the Month in the upcoming days.
Related article
The Cardinal Nation July 2026 Player of the Month – Jack Gurevitch
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