Steven Matz DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz will draw the start in Wednesday's game against the division-rival Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. It will be Matz's second start of the year, and he'll be pitching on three days of rest after getting two outs out of the bullpen on Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers. The 33-year-old veteran southpaw has pitched well for the Red Birds early on in 2025 -- he's allowed four earned runs on 15 hits (no homers) while walking only three and striking out 14 in 20 innings, but he'll still be a pretty volatile streaming option in a hitter-friendly ballpark this week. In his lone start this year on April 16 against the Houston Astros, Matz got the win by giving up just one earned run in five innings while walking none and striking out five.

The Athletic's Katie Woo writes that the St. Louis Cardinals seem inclined to use left-handed veteran Steven Matz in the starting rotation to start the season. However, it's not a guarantee, especially is young pitchers Andre Pallante and Michael McGreevy continue their strong springs. The main thing is that Matz has been healthy in camp, and the Cardinals will get a better sense of how effective the 33-year-old southpaw will be over the final few weeks of Grapefruit League action. Barring a late-spring trade, Woo believes Matz will be on the Opening Day roster as a back-end starter. Matz has allowed just one run with three walks and three strikeouts in five innings over his two spring starts. Since Matz has mostly dealt with injuries the last couple of seasons, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him eventually moved to a long-relief role when St. Louis feels Pallante or McGreevy are ready.

According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, the St. Louis Cardinals are continuing to explore a potential trade for left-handed pitcher Steven Matz. Earlier this offseason, it was reported that the southpaw, along with Eric Fedde were drawing interest on the trade market. Woo said that with Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas having no-trade clauses Matz would likely be moved in order to shed salary, especially if the team cannot find a suitor for Nolan Arenado. Woo noted that the team would prefer to hold Fedde until the trade deadline. Last season, Matz logged just 44 1/3 innings of work with a 5.08 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Currently, he sits as the No.5 starter in rotation but if he were to be moved, then top prospect Quinn Mathews or Michael McGreevy would have a chance to open the season in the majors. Mathews held a strong 2.76 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP with 202 punchouts across 143 innings in his first minor league season.