Cardinals Phenom Dubbed Minor League Pitcher Of The Year, Per Baseball America

St. Louis has a bright future with the young southpaw

June 29, 2010; St. Louis, MO. USA; A general view of Busch Stadium after St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols (5) hit a two run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have struggled to draft and retain high-quality starting pitchers over the last decade, as seen by the elderly rotation.

Other than Drew Rom, who spent the whole year on the injured list and the emergence of Andre Pallante, the Cardinals don't have any starters under 30 years old.

Fortunately, St. Louis has a talented young hurler making his way through the minors, who could soon be a valuable asset for the Cardinals' pitching staff. After only one season in the minors, the pitching phenom is already making a name for himself.

Triple-A Memphis left-handed pitcher Quinn Matthews has been named Minor League Pitcher of the Year after an unbelievable first season as a professional pitcher in the Cardinals farm system, according to Baseball America's voting.

Matthews has logged an 8-5 record with a 2.76 ERA, 202-to-49 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .179 batting average against and a 0.98 WHIP in 143 1/3 innings pitched between his time playing for Single-A Palm Beach, High-A Peoria, Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis this season.

To climb from the bottom of St. Louis' farm system all the way to the top in just one season is an impressive feat in itself, let alone doing it in his first season as a professional.

After leading the minors in strikeouts and dominating his way to the top of the minor league levels in his first season as a Cardinals affiliate pitcher, Matthews is setting himself up to be an exciting and rare talent to come out of St. Louis' farm system.

It's too early to predict whether Matthews' success will translate to the big leagues. He still needs to develop but if his success carries into 2025, it's possible we'll soon see him pitching at Busch Stadium.

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