The St. Louis Cardinals are surprisingly having a solid start to the 2025 MLB season. After trying to trade Nolan Arenado in the offseason, they sit in the National League Wild Card as June begins. They are not going to stop pushing for the playoffs as long as they keep winning. So the Cardinals added Tyler Matzek, who started this season with the Yankees, for bullpen depth.
We have signed LHP Tyler Matzek to a minor league contract and assigned him to Memphis (AAA).
Matzek, 34, owns a career 3.73 ERA across seven Major League seasons and won a World Series championship with Atlanta in 2021. He appeared in 7 games with the Yankees earlier this year. pic.twitter.com/Z0qgRuH1EF
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) June 3, 2025
“We have signed LHP Tyler Matzek to a minor league contract and assigned him to Memphis (AAA),” the Cardinals Player Development social media account announced.
Matzek made seven appearances for the Yankees this year with a 4.26 ERA. He mostly appeared in blowouts while with the Bombers, but did get two key outs in a May 14 win over the Mariners. That is his most recent MLB appearance. The Yankees will reportedly put Luke Weaver on the injured list soon, so this depth piece could have been important had the Cardinals not scooped him up.
The Cardinals are 13th in team ERA this season, partly because of some excellent performances from their bullpen. Ryan Helsley, Kyle Leahy, and Phil Maton all have ERAs under 3.00 and are anchoring the back end of the bullpen. Matzek won’t challenge them for their roles, but can help with the middle innings.
Matzek’s greatest career accomplishment is the 2021 World Series with the Atlanta Braves. He made 13 appearances in that postseason, posting a 1.72 ERA on the way to the title. That includes two shutout innings in Game 6 of the World Series, which clinched the title for Atlanta. Since then, he has struggled, including a missed season in 2023 due to injury.
The Cardinals could end up trading Matzek at the trade deadline if they fall out of the playoffs. But if he turns back the clock, it could continue a magical summer in St. Louis.
Christopher Hennessy is an MLB associate editor at ClutchPoints, with additional expertise in the NHL and golf. He graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022, and he has work experience at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders reporter.
