Can Steven Matz throw a curveball — literally — into rotation consideration?: Cardinals Extra (2024)

MILWAUKEE — It was raining in Durham, North Carolina, when pitcher Steven Matz grabbed a bucket of baseballs, retreated to the batting cage and decided to use the time to get in touch with an old friend.

Matz was about to begin his second rehab assignment of the summer, his second attempt at returning from a herniated disc in his lower back, and he made a challenge to himself: He would not throw any cut fastball before establishing his curveball. The pitch flattened on him and had fallen out of usage for at least a year. So with a rain delay to kill while with Class AAA Memphis in early August, he toted that bucket of baseballs into the cage and, without a catcher, started spinning curve after curve after curve until — eureka.

“I think I might have found something,” he recalled thinking.

Matz’s lengthy route back from injury reached the majors Tuesday night when he pitched an encouraging 4⅔ innings and struck out seven against Milwaukee. The lefty wanted to return from his monthlong rehab assignment with more than health: He wanted to get a feel back for the breaking pitch. He threw the curve nine times Tuesday night and got two strikeouts on it, and only once did a Brewer put it into play. He used it to steal strikes early and finish a few at-bats.

Against left-handed batters, he shifted it ever so slightly to give it a different angle — as if coming from behind them and into the strike zone.

“The curveball was a big player for him,” manager Oliver Marmol said after the Cardinals’ 7-4 victory against Milwaukee. Marmol elaborated Wednesday: “He landed the curveball well, which was good because the shape was different than we’ve seen in the past. He was finishing guys off.”

The Cardinals have not yet announced — or, in a few cases, not yet decided — how they’ll arrange the rotation beyond this weekend’s home series against Seattle. After Monday’s off-day, the Cardinals could stick with a six-man rotation, though they’ll know then if Lance Lynn joins it and Matz sticks in it. Lynn threw a bullpen session Wednesday at American Family Field, and the veteran right-hander said he’ll see how he recovers Thursday before knowing his next step. He could stride straight from that bullpen back into the rotation — which would give the Cardinals seven starters. At least one will be assigned to the bullpen.

Matz made his case to continue to start Tuesday, allowing two solo homers and three runs on three hits. He was on a pitch limit of between 85 and 90 pitches, and the matchup gave the Cardinals a reason to remove him before completing the fifth inning. One of the runs he allowed came after he was out of the game.

At one point, Matz struck out four consecutive Brewers and five of six, spinning through the middle of Milwaukee’s order. He finished the game with 14 swings and misses, a total among the highest for a Cardinals starter this season.

In a tenure with the Cardinals that has been interrupted by injuries, it was during Matz’ recovery from a knee injury that the curveball started to drift on him. It lacked the bite of his other pitches and was mostly mothballed as a result. Matz went from throwing the curve 23.3% of the time in 2017 to less than 15% in 2023. This season, he was down to 7.4%. In his second start of this season — five shutout innings vs. Miami — Matz threw the curve twice.

Matz’s first rehab assignment of the summer took him to Class AA Springfield (Missouri), and a former pitching coach from the Mets system drove up from Arkansas to see him.

During that visit, Glenn Abbott noted how few curves Matz threw.

Over lunch, as they caught up, Abbott reminded the lefty of a conversation they had back in Double-A when Matz was having trouble with the curve. Abbott asked how many fastballs he threw during bullpen sessions and to what areas, and how many off-speed pitches and to what areas of the strike zone. The former big league pitcher then asked: If he only threw three curveballs each week in practice, how did he expect to get better at it?

Message received. He couldn’t regain its use without using it. When next Abbott saw Matz pitch for Class AA Springfield, Matz was spinning the curveball. He got five strikeouts, at least two directly off the curve.

“That’s really been a pitch for me throughout my career,” Matz said. “But even in some of my better games, I’d throw it two, three times. I just needed to think that I should start mixing it in more.”

Matz’s first rehab assignment ended after that five-K outing for the S-Cards, and when he resumed pitching in games about six weeks later, he had made himself that deal: No cutters until he “got a feel for the curve.”

In six starts on his rehab assignment, Matz had solid but not always spectacular outings. He struck out 17 in 21 innings but also allowed 24 hits. He stayed true to that plan and cranked through some curveballs in his early outings before going to the cut fastball. Matz looped in Class AAA Memphis pitching coach Darwin Marrero to help sharpen and craft the curveball. Matz also kept in touch with the big league coaches for advice. During bullpen sessions with pitching coach Dusty Blake talked through the shape his curve needed to maintain to be effective. Matz got it there in the bullpen outings, kept it there during his late rehab games and showed how effective it could be here in his first start since April 30.

He threw mostly sinkers and change-ups in his start vs. Milwaukee but did not shy from the curveball in any count. He did not need the cutter.

He might have found something.

“This is going to be a player for me,” Matz said. “Definitely, hopefully, I can build some momentum here and finish strong.”

Goldschmidt superlatives

With his home run Tuesday night, Paul Goldschmidt moved into a tie with Joe DiMaggio with 361 career homers. The Yankees great and Hall of Famer was alone at 86th on the all-time career homer list before Goldschmidt caught him with the 21st homer of his season.

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