On Monday, Stanford senior left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews was selected 122nd overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 4th round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Mathews was the third Cardinal player selected in the draft, following Alberto Rios who went 79th overall to the Los Angeles Angels.
Mathews is coming off a strong senior campaign in which he was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, going 10-4 with a 3.75 ERA as the Friday starter. In 124.2 innings pitched, Mathews fanned 158 batters, leading the team in strikeouts.
Mathews was drafted in the 19th round by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2022 MLB Draft, but decided to come back for his senior season. The decision to come back paid off as he got drafted in the first five rounds this year. Mathews boosted his stock tremendously and now has a much better shot at seeing big league action than had he left after the 2022 draft.
What makes Mathews such a good pitcher is his strikeout ability and control. He doesn’t beat teams with his speed, but with his craftiness and versatility on the mound. He also pitches in a way in which he can go deep into games. A prime example of that is him pitching a 156 pitch complete game in the Super Regional round against Texas.
Like a lot of veterans, Mathews has a good head on his shoulders. He’s very mature and approaches the game with a big league mindset. He also has experience coming out of the bullpen as well as starting, so he’s comfortable with any role you give him.
It’ll be fun to see what Mathews does for the Cardinal organization and whether or not he’ll end up making his way onto their major league roster in the next couple of seasons. He’s certainly got the potential to be a really nice pitcher for them either out of the bullpen or starting.
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