Matthew Liberatore was ranked eighth in one of many recreation’s top-rated farm methods when our 2019 Tampa Bay Rays High Prospects listing was launched that January. Drafted sixteenth total the earlier summer season out of Glendale, Arizona’s Mountain Ridge Excessive Faculty, the now 25-year-old southpaw was assigned a 50 FV by Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel. Twelve months later, Liberatore was no. 3 — nonetheless with a 50 FV — on our 2020 St. Louis Cardinals High Prospects listing, which was revealed per week after Liberatore was traded to the NL Central membership in a multi-player deal that included Randy Arozarena.
What did Liberatore’s 2019 and 2020 scouting studies seem like? Furthermore, what does he assume of all of them these years later? Wanting to seek out out, I shared a few of what Eric and Kiley wrote and requested Liberatore to answer it.
———
January 2019:
“He was arguably the very best highschool pitcher within the class, evaluated closely early on by the Giants (who picked second), earlier than settling into the 7-13 vary by June.”
“That’s fairly cool,” Liberatore replied. “I used to be extremely scouted in my senior 12 months — I believe I had over 100 scouts at my first begin — so I wouldn’t say it was one workforce particularly. I knew that I used to be going to be scouted by way of the primary spherical, however there wasn’t essentially any indication, proper up till the draft, as to who was going to take me.”
“When [Kyler] Murray was chosen, groups choosing behind Oakland abruptly had entry to 1 extra participant than they’d anticipated… Different groups hadn’t thought-about the likelihood that Libby would fall to them and both hadn’t performed numerous background work, or weren’t snug with how he would possibly alter their bonus pool math.”
“I undoubtedly thought the A’s had been a risk, and I used to be additionally instructed the Pirates had been a risk,” Liberatore recalled. “A pair minutes earlier than the decide, we obtained a telephone name saying [the A’s] selected to go one other path. I came upon it was Kyler Murray. I figured he was most likely going to go within the first spherical of the NFL draft in a few months, so I used to be undoubtedly stunned by that. However I grew up going to Tampa each summer season to go to household, and had been to loads of Tampa Bay Rays video games all through my life, so to finish up going to them at 16 ended up figuring out fairly effectively for me.”
“When Liberatore was at his greatest, he’d throw strikes with 93-97 for the primary a number of innings of his begins, present you a 70 curveball, change, and alter the timing of his supply to toy with hitters.”
“Fairly just like now,” Liberatore opined. “I don’t essentially fast pitch or do the hesitation to change the hitter’s timing as a lot anymore, however that’s undoubtedly not one thing that I’m crossing off the listing. So, fairly related scouting report back to how I pitch now.”
“At different occasions, he’d sit 88-92 with scattershot command and get too cute with Johnny Cueto shenanigans.”
“Hmm. I imply, I’m not going to agree with that, essentially,” Liberatore mentioned. “You may have days the place you are feeling actually good and go on the market along with your greatest stuff, after which you’ve got days the place you don’t really feel so good and have to seek out different methods to get hitters out. For those who take a look at my numbers in highschool, I did a fairly good job of doing that. So, I wouldn’t say I obtained too cute with something.”
Requested if he might immediately tackle the Cueto comp — the best way the veteran hurler will typically shimmy and switch earlier than delivering a pitch — Liberatore mentioned it was all about disrupting timing.
“Why do guys throw a breaking ball or a changeup?” he replied. “It’s all about altering timing, and that’s one other approach to try this. Some scouts didn’t prefer it. I had a man come into my home and inform me to stop doing that. But when it will get outs it will get outs, and Johnny Cueto was doing it on the highest stage of the sport. And there are different guys that do the identical factor. I don’t assume that it ever harm me in any respect.
“I really used it as a reset numerous occasions. If my common supply wasn’t working, I might go to a type of and discover the proper really feel to lock me again in, sync me again up. I by no means considered it as attempting to trick the hitter exterior of it being no completely different than throwing a changeup or a breaking ball to throw off the hitter’s timing. I imply, I’ve undoubtedly toned it down since then. I do it hardly ever, however like I mentioned earlier than, it’s definitely not one thing I’m going to get away from perpetually.”
———
January 2020:
“As a result of Liberatore’s fastball has sinker motion, the expansion of this changeup goes to be crucial facet of his improvement, since these two pitches have related motion and can theoretically tunnel higher.”
“I throw two completely different fastballs,” Liberatore mentioned. “One among them has sinker motion, and considered one of them is a bit more hoppy. I believe the event of the cutter has been larger than the event of the changeup for me. Having the ability to personal the interior half of the plate is one thing that has helped me fairly a bit.
“I’ve thrown each my complete life. The 2-seam, in the event you take a look at it in a vacuum, is a fairly common analytical pitch. Nevertheless it performs off the remainder of my arsenal. It doesn’t sink, nevertheless it runs into left-handers so I’m in a position to present them a slight distinction in form with out having to vary the speed.”
“His knockout curveball has all-world depth… it’s the kind of pitch that’s exhausting to hit even when you recognize it’s coming, nevertheless it may be straightforward to put off of within the grime, as a result of its Loch Ness hump is simple to establish out of the hand.”
“Yeah. I believe all of it is dependent upon how you utilize your different stuff round it,” Liberatore mentioned. “For those who throw any pitch each single time, it’s going to be simpler to select up. That’s why I’ve at all times saved that four-seam fastball, to have the ability to present guys one thing up within the zone, to tunnel off of that curveball. Yeah, it may be straightforward to put off at occasions, but when I begin touchdown it for a strike it’s a must to honor it. I believe it will probably undoubtedly be a knockout pitch for me.”
“The whole bundle ought to lead to an above-average massive league starter.”
“I’ll take that.”
