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Given his experience in 2023 of going from rotation to bullpen and then back to the rotation, what Steven Matz carries with him ahead of his shift from the bullpen to the rotation is a sense of “familiarity� for what awaits him.

“I think just treating it the same,� Matz said. “I’ve been feeling really good with my stuff and recovering really well. Just going out and treating it like I’m coming out of spring training. I know what I have to do to prepare for a start. I’m just going to treat it like that.�

In a move that will take the Cardinals rotation from being a five-man staff to a six-max staff, Matz is scheduled to make his first start of the season Wednesday against the Astros.

The decision to open the year with Matz in the bullpen before moving him into the rotation with a start vs. Houston opened an opportunity for Matthew Liberatore to be a starter and was intended as a way to keep starters healthy while they built up through March and April while having Matz available as a long reliever.

Matz’s placement in the bullpen to begin the year required some “buy-in� from the left-hander who has been primarily a starter throughout his major-league career.

“I think he (Matz) pitched well enough to be in the rotation, to be clear, and I expressed that to him,� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “But at the same time, he understood why we were doing what we were doing, and how he was positioned best to serve that role. There was buy-in from him that made it easier to go ahead and move forward with allowing (Liberatore) and the rest of the group to be in the rotation.�

While building up as a starter during spring training, Matz, 33, held a 2.29 ERA, struck out 11 batters and held hitters to a .188 batting average through 19 2/3 innings during the Grapefruit League. Since the start of the regular season, he has given his club 11 2/3 innings of relief across five appearances while maintaining a 2.31 ERA in that role.

Matz, who missed time in each of his first three seasons with the Cardinals because of various injuries, said Tuesday he is in “a great spot� when describing his health and how that has enabled him to limit hitters. He used his first start of the year as an example of why that is the case.

On March 30, Matz provided four scoreless innings, allowed one hit and earned his first career save after coming into a 9-2 win vs. the Twins following a rain delay.

“That first outing really kind of showed me just where I am with my stuff,� Matz said. “To take off that much time, normally, I’d really be kind of worried about how my stuff was going to play. It was right where I left off in spring training after 10 to 12 days of not throwing.�

During his time in the bullpen, the left-hander reached a high of 53 pitches from and also had an instance of being used on back-to-back days during his club’s road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cardinals plan to keep him at around the 65-pitch range on Wednesday, though Marmol noted that “stress� innings will be taken into account for how the Cardinals deploy the left-hander.

Matz described having a “little bit of a different mindset� as a reliever noting that there is more of an approach to being efficient when you come into the middle of a game vs. the approach to control the pace of a game as a starter.

He said the move was one he looked to “make the best of it.� Ahead of his move to the rotation, he’s looking to continue doing the same.

“I think my mindset going into the season is just trying to enjoy all aspects, wherever I end up. ... I’m going to enjoy just being in the big leagues and competing,� Matz said. “Now I’m excited to be able to start. That’s kind of been my mindset this year all together.�

Hjerpe undergoes Tommy John

Cardinals prospect Cooper Hjerpe, the club’s first-round MLB draft pick in 2022, underwent Tommy John surgery on his left elbow that will sideline him for the rest of the 2025 season and part of the 2026 season. Hjerpe, 24, is expected to return by midway through 2026.

The 24-year-old left began this season on the injured list before being transferred to the full-season IL Tuesday following the procedure to his UCL.

Through two seasons since debuting in pro ball in 2023, elbow injuries have kept Hjerpe to 93 1/3 innings across 25 appearances in Class High-A and Class AA. He required arthroscopic elbow surgery in 2023 and missed time in 2024 because of inflammation in his left elbow. While healthy, Hjerpe has maintained a 3.38 ERA, struck out 127 batters, and kept hitters to a .176 batting average.

With Hjerpe’s IL placement, the Cardinals have had three of their top pitching prospects in the upper minors get sidelined because of injury. Top pitching prospect Quinn Mathews was recently placed on the IL with left shoulder soreness and right-hander Tink Hence began the year on the IL with a right rib cage strain.

“That’s the thing, you do everything you can to keep guys healthy,� Marmol said on the string of injuries “Every organization is trying to do that. And then baseball happens, and you can’t control it, right? It’s unfortunate, but you have to continue to get guys ready and plan for that not to happen.�

Extra bases

• Shortstop Masyn Winn (lower back spasms) and catcher Ivan Herrera (left knee inflammation) both began baseball activities Tuesday by playing catch with one another.
• Victor Scott II’s absence from the Cardinals lineup Tuesday night was scheduled day off, Marmol said.