ST. LOUIS – Two of the top-rated prospects in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system are getting the call to the major leagues.
The Cardinals announced Thursday that prospects Nolan Gorman and Matthew Liberatore would join the Major League roster for the upcoming road series in Pittsburgh.
Gorman, a 2018 first-round draft pick, joins the team after a strong start with the Triple-A affiliate Memphis Redbirds. He enjoyed a .308 batting average and a Triple-A leading 15 home runs over 34 games. He strung together a 16-game hitting streak earlier in the season, earning International League Player of the Month honors in April.
Liberatore, another 2018 first-round draft pick who the Cardinals acquired via trade in 2020, gets the call after seven starts with Memphis. He went 3-3 with a 3.83 ERA and 46 strikeouts over 40 innings pitched. The Redbirds stretched out Liberatore to five innings in all but one of his starts this season, and he tossed seven scoreless innings in back-to-back April starts.
MLB Pipeline ranks Gorman 29th among minor-league prospects and No. 2 in the Cardinals’ farm system. The prospect-tracking platform ranks Liberatore 39th among minor-league prospects and No. 3 in the Cardinals’ farm system.
Gorman and Liberatore have close ties beyond being considered top Cardinals prospects. They were teammates for select baseball teammates while growing up in Arizona and played high school baseball at rival high schools in the Sun Belt State.
Liberatore is expected to make his MLB debut and first MLB start on Saturday. It’s unclear how soon Gorman may enter the Cardinals’ lineup, though he could make his debut at second base or designated hitter.