With his final regular season start of his first professional season, Cardinals prospect Quinn Mathews reached a benchmark that few minor league pitchers have reached over the last decade.
Mathews, a 23-year-old left-hander, struck out five batters over six innings on Thursday for Class AAA Memphis to up his season strikeout total to 202.
Mathews, who did not pitch in 2023 after getting drafted in the fourth round of that year’s MLB draft, became the 10th pitcher in Cardinals minor league history to reach the 200-strikeout mark and the second minor league pitcher since 2012 to total 200 or more strikeouts in a single season. The only pitcher besides Mathews to reach 200 strikeouts in a MiLB season was Arizona Diamondbacks Bradon Pfaadt, who totaled 218 strikeouts across Class AA and Class AAA.
The 202 strikeouts tie Mathews for the seventh-most in a single season in Cardinals minor league history.
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The 23-year-old will end his regular season with an 8-5 record, a 2.76 ERA, and 0.98 walks plus hits allowed per inning in 143 1/3 innings of work across four levels of professional baseball. Across four starts in his introduction to Class AAA, Mathews posted a 6.48 ERA and totaled 22 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. Mathews’ six innings of work on Thursday during Memphis’s 4-0 loss to Durham were the most he completed in Class AAA following his promotion to the level on Aug. 28.
Mathews, who began his season in Class Low-A and pitched in this year’s All-Star Futures Game, leads all minor league pitchers in total strikeouts with three games left in the MiLB season. There is a 36-strikeout gap between Mathews and the next closest pitcher assigned to an affiliate that is still in its regular season.
In his final regular season start, Mathews induced 12 whiffs on 43 swings for a 28% swing-and-miss rate, per Statcast. Six of his whiffs came on his slider. Four were on his changeup.
Mathews began the outing with four scoreless innings. A one-out single from Tristan Peters in the fifth inning scored the game’s first run and put runners on first and third base. Mathews got former Cardinal Richie Palacios, who is on a rehab assignment for a right knee injury, to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Mathews allowed two runs to score in the sixth inning on a double from Jake Mangum.
The left-hander capped his breakout regular season with consecutive pop outs to end the sixth frame and his outing.
Springfield heads to decisive Game 3
An eight-run fifth inning sunk Class AA Springfield on Thursday against Arkansas and will force a decisive Game 3 of the Texas League Division Series on Friday at Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri.
Springfield held a 2-1 lead on Thursday lead receiving back-to-back, two-out singles from Leonardo Bernal and Jacob Buchberger in the fourth inning.
That lead was wiped away two batters into the top of the fifth inning when Springfield starter Max Rajcic gave up a single and double to the first two batters he faced to begin the frame. After successfully fielding a pop out on a bunt attempt and allowing a single that put runners on the corner, Rajcic was replaced by Ryan Shreve.
Springfield fell behind 5-2 after Shreve allowed a walk, hit a batter, and gave up two singles. Shreve could not record an out in his relief appearance and was replaced by Benito Garcia, who gave up two runs before he could record the inning’s last out.
A three-run seventh inning highlighted by solo homers from Bernal and Bryan Torres cut Springfield’s deficit. Springfield scored an additional run in the ninth inning on a double from Dakota Harris but could not piece together a rally big enough for a comeback win.
The winner of Friday’s Game 3 will advance to the Texas League Championship Series.