RADIO
Matthew Liberatore a Waiver-Wire Target After Strong First Start?
St. Louis Cardinals left-hander looked sharp against the Tampa Bay Rays in his Opening Day start on Thursday, allowing only one earned run on seven hits (one homer) while walking two and striking out two in five innings of work for a no-decision. The 26-year-old southpaw was in a full-time starting role for the Cardinals in 2025 and went 8-12 with a 4.21 ERA (4.03 FIP) and 1.30 WHIP with a career-high 122 strikeouts and 40 walks in 151 2/3 innings over his 29 starts. Most of his best work last year came early in the season before a rough 14-start stretch in the middle of the year, where he had an ERA over 5.00. Liberatore was passable as a deep-league, matchup-based streamer in 2025, but his 18.8% strikeout rate left a lot to be desired in fantasy formats. It was a nice start for him on Thursday, but he faces a tough second matchup against the Mets, and fantasy managers in mixed leagues will want to see plenty more before they consider him off the waiver wire. Liberatore is only rostered in 24% of Yahoo leagues currently.
Source: Baseball Reference
Source: Baseball Reference
