Cardinals hand ball on Opening Day to 26-year-old lefty
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His first ever MLB opening day start..
Cardinals hand ball on Opening Day to 26-year-old lefty originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The St.
Louis Cardinals are going in a different direction to open 2026. At 26, Matthew Liberatore will take the ball on Opening Day. That’s not just a lineup choice.
It’s a statement about where this team is right now. For years, this moment belonged to proven veterans. Now it belongs to a pitcher still figuring out exactly who he is at the big-league level.
A new era begins on the mound Liberatore isn’t the typical Opening Day starter in St. Louis. He hasn’t been an All-Star.