St. Louis Cardinals' Prospect Earns Minor League Pitching Prospect of the Year Award

Jason Burke | Oct 1, 2024

Jun 19, 2023; Omaha, NE, USA; Stanford Cardinal starting pitcher Quinn Mathews (26) watches his replacement come in from the bullpen against the Tennessee Volunteers in the fifth inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images / Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals unveiled some of their plans for the future on Monday, the first day after the regular season ended, and that involves a switch that will be made in the front office--in 2026--when Chaim Bloom will take over for John Mozeliak as the team's president of baseball operations.

One player that Bloom will be able to sit back and enjoy is Quinn Mathews, a fourth round pick out of Stanford in 2023, who on Monday was named the Minor League Pitching Prospect of the Year. In 143 innings, Mathews was able to strike out 202 batters. Only ten MLB pitchers struck out 200+ hitters this season, and they all pitched at least 20 more innings than the Cardinal left-hander.

Mathews pitched in four different levels across the minor leagues this season, ultimately ending up in Triple-A where he wasn't his usual dominant self. Part of that could be the competition catching up with him, and the lines being blurred a little more between the minors and the big leagues at that level, and the other part could be that he was at a new career high in innings, having tossed 124 2/3 with Stanford last season. He finished the 2024 season with 143 1/3.

Mathews has rocketed up the Cardinals' prospect rankings, sitting at No. 3 on MLB Pipeline heading into the offseason, and the No. 80 overall prospect in MLB.

With rumors swirling already that St. Louis could be looking to move Sonny Gray, that may only be possible because of the organization's trust in Mathews moving forward. He likely isn't ready for the big-leagues just yet, but he could be by the time June rolls around, which would give the Red Birds plenty of time to get a look at him in 2025 before deciding on their full-Bloom plan for 2026. Gray is under contract for another two seasons.

The Cardinals are going to start getting younger, and Mathews figures to be a big part of that resurgence in St. Louis.