Matz eyeing reliability in 2024

JUPITER, Fla. -- So far, slow good for Steven Matz.

It’s been a measured spring for Matz, who has been brought along at a deliberate pace in an effort to keep him healthy for the long season ahead. The left-hander is finally set to make his Grapefruit League debut with one inning out of the bullpen vs. the Nationals on Monday, starting his road to the regular season -- one he and the Cardinals hope will be injury-free and productive.

“That's always part of the goal; you want to be reliable,” said Matz, who will make his first start on Saturday against the Mets at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

“You want to take the ball when they call your name. Ultimately, there are some things that are out of your control. But from all my years here now, we just put a plan together that we can kind of try to fix that.”

That plan included taking it slowly during the early weeks of spring, leaving Matz about a week behind the rest of the starting rotation.

After shoulder and knee injuries limited him to 15 appearances (10 starts) in his first season with St. Louis in 2022, Matz appeared in 25 games last year, getting demoted to the bullpen in late May following a poor start (0-6, 5.72 ERA), then missing the final seven weeks of the season due to a lat strain.

“We got with trainers, had everyone on board and we made a plan,” Matz said. “We’re sticking to the plan so I can make all my starts this year. We all got our heads together and I’m trying to get myself in a position to where I can do that.”

The Cardinals had no need to convince Matz that this was the best course of action for him. The plan was orchestrated with him, making the 32-year-old a part of the process the entire time.

“The key here is just keeping him healthy and getting the version that we saw once he came out of the ‘pen and back into the rotation,” manager Oliver Marmol said.

“The biggest thing for him is just health, so this was not something that we put together and presented to him; it's something we sat down and figured what makes the most sense.”

The “version” of Matz that Marmol mentioned was the one that went 4-0 with a 1.86 ERA in seven starts last July and August after returning from his seven-plus weeks in the bullpen.

“That's what we think he's capable of doing; he's shown it,” Marmol said. “He did it for a period of time once he was healthy, so that's why for us, the key is him being healthy.

“If that's a slower progression leading into opening up the season, it's a long season, we're totally fine with that.”

Despite the deliberate progression thus far, both Matz and Marmol are confident that the southpaw will be ready to go when the season starts.

Matz is excited to pick up where last season left off prior to his lat injury, especially given that his subpar start to 2023 was one of the reasons the Cardinals dug themselves a hole in the standings they were never able to emerge from.

For a club accustomed to winning -- St. Louis had reached the postseason in four straight seasons prior to last year’s 71-91 campaign -- the Cardinals are intent on turning things around in 2024.

Matz’s ability to stay healthy figures to be a big part of that, as he and Miles Mikolas will be joined in a rebuilt rotation that now includes Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn.

“It's good to have veteran guys who've navigated several seasons in the big leagues and had some good success,” Matz said. “Everybody is motivated. Last year didn't go the way we wanted, so you learn from it and you address it. I think guys recognize how losing last year was not fun, so it does bring in a little bit of different perspective.

“The expectation here is to win and that's kind of how it is every Spring Training.”