Diamondbacks second baseman Garrett Hampson throws to first base on a single hit by the Nationals’ James Wood during the third inning of a game Friday, April 4, 2025, in Washington.
Of all the traits that drew the Cardinals to make a waiver claim Tuesday afternoon — including a player’s familiarity as a teammate for several people in their clubhouse — Nolan Arenado introduced another one for veteran addition Garrett Hampson.
“And he’s fearless,” Arenado said. “That’s going to be really great for us.”
As part of a roster shuffle Tuesday afternoon ahead of their evening game against the Cubs, the Cardinals plucked Hampson off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds and immediately added him to the active roster. It’s likely Hampson, a right-handed hitter who can play every fielding position that faces the catcher, will get a start in center field over the next two days.
He spent the past weekend in St. Louis, departed with Cincinnati and then departed its roster, only to make a U-turn back to Busch Stadium.
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Hampson, 30, was not expected to arrive in time for Tuesday’s game, and the Cardinals would play short an option off the bench, which he’ll most often be.
“He causes a lot of problems on the bases, and that’s really good for us,” Arenado said. “When he’s on the bases, pitchers know about it. They get a little concerned when he gets on the bases because he causes problems.”
To make room for Hampson on the 40-player roster and active roster, the Cardinals designated shortstop/center fielder Jose Barrero for assignment. That buys time for the Cardinals to work out a trade or pass Barrero through waivers in hopes of keeping him as a depth option at Class AAA Memphis. Barrero is out of minor league options, so that is the only way to get him to the minors. In a parallel move, the Cardinals optioned reliever Roddery Munoz to Triple-A Memphis to clear an active roster spot for Michael McGreevy, Tuesday’s starter.
The option in Munoz’s fifth of the season already, and for the Cardinals to return him to Memphis again this season, he must, by rule, pass through waivers.
Hampson’s availability comes a few days after the Reds picked Ryan Vilade off waivers from the Cardinals — effectively making the moves like a trade of right-handed bench options.
In nine games with Cincinnati, Hampson hit .167 with a .433 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), and he started the season with Arizona. Hampson played 113 games this past season with Kansas City, and due to his defensive versatility and reliability, he had a positive wins above replacement despite a .230 average and .576 OPS. Hampson’s career high for homers was 11 in 2021 with the Rockies, just after Arenado left for the Cardinals. Hampson had a career-best season with a .276/.349/380 slash line and .729 OPS in 98 games for Miami in 2023.
He was a 1.1-WAR player that season and reunites with ֱes Brant Brown and Jon Jay, who were also in Miami that season.
The Cardinals wanted to explore other right-handed options for center field to pair with Victor Scott II at times, and being able to play shortstop was a prerequisite. They also sought a veteran who was comfortable and familiar with limited playing time.
Former teammates “speak of his overall baseball acumen,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “He understand the game, understands his role, adds value in the clubhouse (and) hitters meetings. Just brings a lot of knowledge to the group. I feel that can be helpful with the group that we have.”
Libby’s pivotal pitch
With the bases loaded and one out in Monday’s game, pitching ֱ Dusty Blake visited starter Matthew Liberatore on the mound bearing suggestions.
Cubs leadoff hitter — and noted gnat for the Cardinals — Ian Happ was at the plate, and Blake said that Liberatore could go with a “heater up” or “spin him under.”
Liberatore had already made up his mind.
He chose neither.
“I told him I want to throw a cutter,” Liberatore said. “I knew I wanted to throw the cutter to him before Dusty came out. We had attacked him primarily with fastballs, change-ups, and curveballs all night long. We had thrown him away most of the game, so I felt like the one thing he wasn’t sitting on there was something moving toward his hands. And it happened to be a cutter is a great ground-ball pitch, too. So I felt like the stars kind of aligned for that to be the pitch to get me out of it.”
The cutter moved in on Happ’s hands.
A ground ball came off of his bat.
Nolan Arenado started what would become the inning-ending double play and the spring from which Liberatore went on to finish seven innings and leave Monday’s game with the win and a big league high of note. He has collected one more out in the first half of this season (86 1/3 innings) than he pitched mostly as a reliever all of this past season (86 innings). Liberatore is one season removed from throwing 125 innings between Class AAA and the majors, and he’s surpassed 100 innings three times in his pro career.
That lessens the concern for Liberatore making a substantial leap in workload from one year to this year as a starter, though the Cardinals are monitoring his pitch totals and stress outings more than just his raw innings total.
“I think I hit a little bit of that wall a couple of starts ago,” Liberatore said. “I just got with the trainers, got with Dusty, and we found a few things that were making a big difference. We have been hammering those the last couple of weeks. I feel better now than I did a month ago. I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
Cards starters, etc.
As advertised, the Cardinals will nudge their starters all back a day after sliding McGreevy into the rotation for Tuesday’s game. That puts Erick Fedde on Wednesday, Andre Pallante on the series finale Thursday and sets up Sonny Gray to open the series in Cleveland. Gray will miss pitching against the Cubs in this series. Fedde will get the extra day of rest.
- The Cubs optioned Monday’s starter Ben Brown to Class AAA Iowa following his loss in the series opener. They used the spot to activate Porter Hodge from the 15-day injured list. Hodge, a right-hander, was 2-1 with a 5.12 ERA and two saves before straining an oblique in mid-May.
Big Mac gets college Hall call
Former Cardinals slugger and hitting ֱ Mark McGwire will be inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame this coming February as part of the Hall’s celebration at its home in Overland Park, Kansas. McGwire was a standout, All-American player for the University of Southern California, winning National Player of the Year award in 1984. He set the Trojans record for home runs in a season with 19 and shattered it the next season on his way to 54 career homers, 150 RBIs, and a 1.166 OPS in 149 college games.
He was also a successful pitcher at USC.
McGwire is one of 21 inductees in the Hall’s 18th class, the Hall announced this week. Other members of the class include Cy Young Award winner David Price, a standout at Vanderbilt, and prominent baseball agent Scott Boras.
McGwire did not gain election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on the writers’ ballot and awaits consideration by a veterans’ committee in the coming years.
