Matthew Liberatore

Liberatore graduated from Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona.[1] In July 2017, he played in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game and was named the game's MVP after throwing three scoreless innings.[2] Later in the summer, he played for the USA Baseball 18U National Team.[3] As a senior at Mountain Ridge in 2018, he posted an 8-1 record with a 0.93 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 60.1 innings[4] and was named Arizona's Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year.[5]

Liberatore committed to the University of Arizona to play college baseball.[6]

Liberatore was selected in the first round, with the 16th overall selection, by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2018 MLB draft and signed with the team for a $3.5 million signing bonus.[7] He was assigned to the Gulf Coast Rays of the Gulf Coast League. After posting a 0.98 ERA in eight starts, Liberatore was promoted to the Princeton Rays of the Appalachian League.[8] He pitched in one game for Princeton to end his first professional season. Liberatore began the 2019 season in extended spring training before he was assigned to the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the Class A Midwest League on May 15,[9] with whom he spent the remainder of the year. Over 16 games (15 starts), Liberatore went 6-2 with a 3.10 ERA, striking out 76 batters over ​78 ¹⁄₃ innings.[10]

On January 9, 2020, Liberatore was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals (along with Edgardo Rodriguez and the Rays’ Competitive Balance Round B Draft Pick) in exchange for José Martínez, Randy Arozarena, and the Cardinals’ Competitive Balance Round A Draft Pick.[11]