photo: Matthew Liberatore (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
From spring camp, the St. Louis Cardinals optioned to the minors a pair of candidates who were vying for the rotation.
St. Louis Cardinals press release
The St. Louis Cardinals announced today (Tuesday, March 21) that they have optioned pitchers Dakota Hudson and Matthew Liberatore to the Memphis (AAA) roster, reducing the number of the players on the Spring Training camp roster to 41.
Today’s transactions leave 31 Major League roster players and 10 non-roster invitees on the Spring Training camp roster.
Brian Walton’s take
The race for the starting five has become much clearer with two of the contenders cut from the competition. From Memphis, Hudson and Liberatore will now vie with others to become the number six starter for St. Louis.
Incumbent St. Louis starters are Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery. Also impressing in camp has been Jake Woodford, who could make the team as a long man or get sent down like these two in a later cut.
After three decent outings this spring, Hudson was bombed by the Mets on Sunday, yielding five runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. For the spring, the right-hander has a 6.23 ERA in 8 2/3 innings.
Hudson, 28, who has made 67 career starts for St. Louis, was inconsistent in 2022 in his return from Tommy John surgery and concluded last season in Triple-A.
The left-hander is coming off his best spring outing yet, having thrown five one-run innings with six strikeouts against Detroit on Saturday. Overall for the spring, The Cardinal Nation’s eighth-ranked prospect for 2023 had a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings with nine strikeouts.
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