Liam Doyle is the name most St. Louis Cardinals fans know among the New England pitchers added in 2025, but he might not be the first to reach the Busch Stadium mound.
On Wednesday, the Cardinals selected right-hander Matt Pushard from the Miami Marlins with the seventh overall pick in the Rule 5 draft. According to Baseball America, Pushard “has MLB-caliber stuff,” and after helping lead the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to the Triple-A championship, he is listed among the draft picks most likely to stick at the major league level.
“Pushard fit the Rule 5 target profile as a late-blooming, Triple-A-tested righthander coming off his age-27 season,” the publication wrote. “He logged a 3.61 ERA with 73 strikeouts to 23 walks over 62.1 innings and held steady with a fastball that sat 94-96 mph and touched 97 while producing a 34% miss rate and 42% chase rate. He leans on a sweepy slider and a curveball with occasional changeups and cutters mixed in.”
Cardinals Select Maine Native Matt Pushard in Rule 5 Draft
A Bangor, ME, native, Pushard pitched in parts of six seasons at the University of Maine, primarily as a reliever. Though his name didn’t get called during the 2022 MLB draft, Pushard was contacted by the Marlins the next day and jumped at the chance.
“I just wanted to play baseball,” he said.
“You don’t get many opportunities when you’re from the Northeast. You don’t get the exposure that a bunch of the Southern players get.”
Adding a Sweeper Gave Matt Pushard Something Hitters 'Don't Expect'
While he started his professional career a bit older than most, just a few months shy of his 25th birthday, Pushard rose steadily through the Marlins farm system. Over three full seasons, he struck out 199 batters with 67 walks in 174 innings, posting a 3.21 ERA, with 20 holds and 14 saves. Pushard added a sweeper to his arsenal this season, which he said, as an over-the-top pitcher, has given him something that hitters “don’t expect.”
“It wasn’t too difficult to learn. It’s about wrist positioning,” Pushard said to Bangor Daily News. “I just have to figure out when to throw it and when not to throw it and to which hitters I should be throwing it to. I’m trying to figure out how to be consistent with it. I don’t want it to blend with my curveball, which I’ve been throwing my entire life and that will always be there.”
While he may not have the shine of a top prospect, Pushard could give the Cardinals a durable, strike-throwing reliever with enough stuff to handle major-league hitters and enough experience to steady the middle innings. If his fastball velocity holds and the sweeper continues to separate from his curveball, he has a legitimate chance to carve out a role in a bullpen that will likely have openings throughout 2026.