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The Cardinals have signed free agent pitcher Steven Matz to a 4-year $44 million deal with incentives that could earn him an additional $4 million, pending a physical.
He was 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 29 starts last season for the Blue Jays. I would bet those numbers improve next season because of his high ground ball rate with the gold glove defense behind him. In 2021, he got a groundball 45.5% of the time, and in his career Matz has a 47.5% groundball rate.
He chose the Cardinals after having offers from eight teams (Giants, Red Sox, Blue Jays (who he said was the best team he has ever been on), Tigers, Cubs, Cardinals, Angels, and Mets who drafted him and he’s from New York)
As of right now the 2022 rotation looks like Flaherty, Waino, Matz, Hudson, and Mikolas… though if history tells us anything, we know that should be written in pencil. Knock on wood.
