Quinn Mathews struck out three batters in two scoreless innings in his spring debut.
Mathews averaged 94 mph with his four-seam fastball and got multiple whiffs on his elite changeup, including a strikeout of Vladmir Guerrero Jr. It was an impressive outing from Mathews, but the 24-year-old is not on the 40-man roster, and has only thrown 16 2/3 innings at Triple-A, so it seems highly unlikely he breaks camp with the Cardinals. It’s more likely that the Cardinals will start with Erick Fedde, Andre Pallante, and Steven Matz in the rotation and then maybe trade one or more of those guys to free up space for Mathews and Tink Hence over the summer.