photo: Quinn Mathews (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
St. Louis Cardinals left-handed pitching prospect Quinn Mathews has been added to the 40-man roster, with Tink Hence removed and Matt Svanson optioned to Triple-A.
St. Louis Cardinals release
The St. Louis Cardinals announced today (Saturday, August 1) that the team has selected the contract of rookie left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews from Memphis (AAA) to make his Major League debut as the starting pitcher in today’s game against the Blue Jays. To make room for Mathews on the team’s roster the Cardinals optioned pitcher Matt Svanson to Memphis following last night’s game and have designated pitcher Tink Hence for assignment.
Mathews, 25, has spent the entire 2026 season at Memphis (AAA) where he has compiled a 5-3 mark with a 3.13 ERA in 19 starts (92.0 IP) with a Triple-A leading 111 strikeouts. His 3.13 ERA ranks 2nd among all Triple-A pitchers and his .170 opponent’s batting average against is the 2nd lowest among all full-season minor league pitchers.
The 6-4, 210-pound lefty will become the first Cardinals pitcher to make his Major League debut with a start in Canada since Rick Ankiel did so on August 23, 1999 at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium vs. the Expos. Mathews will become the 8th Cardinals rookie to make their debut this season and the 5th pitcher to do so.
Drafted by the Cardinals in the 4th round (122nd overall) in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Stanford University, Mathews in 2024 combined to strike out 202 batters in his first professional season, the first Cardinals minor leaguer since Ankiel (222 in 1998) to record 200 or more strikeouts in a season, and only the 10th Cardinals minor leaguer to ever do so.
Mathews’ 2024 season included stops at Palm Beach (A), Peoria (A+), Springfield (AA) and Memphis (AAA) as he combined on an 8-5 mark with a 2.76 ERA in 26 starts that earned him recognition as Minor League Baseball’s Pitcher of the Year.
The Aliso Viejo, Calif. native pitched four seasons (2020-24) for Stanford University and ranked 2nd among NCAA Division I pitchers in 2023 with 158 strikeouts behind LSU’s Paul Skenes (209). Mathews threw a 156-pitch complete game in the Stanford Super Regional against the University of Texas on June 11, 2023, striking out 16.
Mathews will wear uniform no. 60.
Brian Walton’s take
On Thursday, the organization disclosed its intent to promote Mathews on Saturday, so that part of the announcement was no surprise. However, the two corresponding moves were unknown until now.
For Mathews, it is important that he makes a strong first impression to step in front of Hunter Dobbins as the current sixth starter and perhaps move up further if Dustin May is traded and/or struggling Matthew Liberatore is removed from the rotation. Liberatore was moved back a day to Sunday to accommodate Mathews’ debut.
The return of Svanson to the minors is warranted. In July, the 27-year-old right-hander allowed opposing hitters a collective slash line of .389/.405/.472/.877 in nine relief appearances on the way to a 7.56 ERA.
For the season with St. Louis, Svanson’s ERA is 7.73 in 41 appearances. It is in major contrast to his 1.94 mark in 39 outings as a rookie in 2025.
Svanson will likely be back soon, especially given the likelihood of the Cardinals trading one or more relievers prior to Monday’s 5:00 p.m. CT trade deadline.
The story of Hence is well known. Drafted in 2020 just after Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn and just ahead of Alec Burleson, the Arkansas teen received $1.15 million to sign and skip college.
In recognition of how impressive Hence’s stuff was, he was once a nationally-ranked top 100 prospect. However, as the years mounted, he could never remain healthy long enough to work his way out of Double-A, a level he first reached midway through the 2023 season.
The Cardinals finally moved him to the bullpen in 2026 and promoted him to Triple-A. Hence was even shifted to the Development List for a time this season to try to work out his problems on the side, but it did not help. While he hasn’t been on the IL in 2026, he hasn’t pitched effectively, either.
Having said that, we are among those who didn’t completely give up hope. As recently as last month, Hence was our 30th-ranked prospect here at The Cardinal Nation.
Despite Hence possessing a 40-man roster spot since November 2024, it became abundantly clear that he had not progressed enough to be given a shot a major league hitters. In 19 outings totaling 20 1/3 innings for Memphis this season, Hence walked 18 against 20 strikeouts on the way to a 6.64 ERA.
The possibility of Hence losing his 40-man roster spot has been a recent topic on our Wednesday With Walton and Reis podcasts here at The Cardinal Nation.
Considering Hence’s long and extensive pedigree which includes 2024 Texas League Pitcher of the Year honors, another organization is likely to take a shot at trying to fix what ails him.
The Cardinals have seven days to decide Hence’s next step. They could trade him, or if placed on outright waivers and claimed, he would join that organization’s 40-man roster. He could also be released, but that seems unlikely. If Hence clears waivers, he would remain with Memphis, just without his 40-man spot.
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