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Sure, we’d all like to think or believe that we’d take the high road, react maturely and unselfishly when faced with a potentially emotional situation that has future ramifications.

However, the reality in the moment for Steven Matz at the end of spring training was the Cardinals prioritized Matthew Liberatore’s success ahead Matz.

From a business standpoint, that’s made perfect sense. Matz had been the subject of trade speculation this winter, and he’s wrapping up an injury-plagued and admittedly frustrating four-year pact with the club.

So the veteran left-hander decided he’d place his emphasis this year on enjoying the season, enjoying the competition and enjoying that fact that he feels healthy.

A 33-year-old who has spent the better part of 10 seasons as a starter in the majors, Matz entered this season with free agency on the horizon next winter. He wants to continue pitching after this season, which makes this year important for selling his services to potential suitors next offseason.

Despite that backdrop, Matz found a way to embrace taking a backseat to Liberatore, 25, for the second time in three years.

“For me, I think 2023 was really a tough year,� Matz said. “I think coming out of the bullpen and coming back to starting really kind of helped me with this transition this year because I came out and I had a really good stretch of starts before I got hurt.

“So I think that experience — the more years you log in this game, you just deal with different things. It just prepares you to handle more things.�

In case you don’t remember that 2023 season Matz referenced, he struggled badly out of the gate, and the Cardinals demoted him to the bullpen in late May after 10 starts and a 5.72 ERA with opponents batting .324 and slugging .505 against him.

Matz stayed in the bullpen until the final game before the All-Star break.

And who did the Cardinals bring up from the minors and insert to take Matz’s place? Liberatore. Though Liberatore finished the 2023 season having made as many relief appearances as starts in the majors that year (11 each).

Now, coming off a season when injury limited Matz to seven starts and Liberatore found success as a full-time relief pitcher, the club’s move was to push Matz aside again in favor of revisiting Liberatore as a starter.

You wouldn’t blame Matz if he raised his eyebrow as well as several objections upon hearing this scenario.

Manager Oliver Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake explained why they were doing what they were doing, pushing Matz out of the rotation and into a bullpen role for the first three weeks of the season in order to create a stable and steady runway for Liberatore.

Marmol even acknowledged that Matz pitched well enough in spring training to be a part of the starting rotation.

Yet, the club’s need to sort through its future pitching options meant that Matz’s springboard into free agency season started with him as the long man in the bullpen.

“We’ve done that with Libby — we’ve bounced him back and forth — and if we really want to find out about Libby, then the best thing to do out of fairness is say, ‘You’re in the starting rotation.’ Not, ‘Hey, you’re going to be in the ’pen and then on the 16th you’re going to be in the rotation and after that we’ll see where we’re at,’� Marmol said.

“That would defeat the purpose of what you’re trying to do with someone like him. Allowing him to say you’re in the rotation, go get it, and this isn’t a tryout — like we said in spring — allows him to drop his shoulders, be himself and go get better every outing. Matz understood that part of it as well, which was good.�

So what kept Matz from taking a selfish stance in this case?

“My main emphasis is to enjoy this year, enjoy my teammates,� Matz said. “Libby is a young, really good pitcher. I want him to have success, and I think that only helps what we have going here if I have that attitude.�

That outlook from Matz stands out as more impressive than Matz’s first start of the season, and his start proved just what the doctor ordered on Wednesday.

By the way, Matz made that start following a 46-pitch relief outing on Saturday.

Back-to-back singles that started the game for the Houston Astros were the only hits Matz allowed in five innings. The Astros’ lone run came on an Isaac Paredes grounder to second base, the first of 15 consecutive batters retired by Matz.

He’d entered the day on a pitch count limit or roughly 65-70 pitches. He made it through five scoreless innings on 71 pitches, and he struck out five without a walk.

Matz’s five innings worth of work also took pressure off a bullpen that will be short-handed going forward, now that the Cardinals will use six starting pitchers.

Matz had been a stopgap out of the bullpen. Four of his first five outings had gone more than one inning (three outings of more than two innings), and his lone one-inning outing was the second of his appearances on back-to-back days.

The memory we’ll likely have of Matz’s time with the Cardinals will be injuries and underperformance. At this point, that’s fair. It’s also fair to recognize that Matz played a big part in putting the Cardinals pitching staff in a good position to start this season.

Perhaps that will also help him extend his career.

“I think that adds some value to what I’m able to do now,� Matz said. “I think pitching 46 pitches and coming back on not a normal starter’s rest and being able to go five innings, being able to go back-to-back. I think, you know what, that’s going to only help me continue to pitch — the more I’m able to do at this point.�