Pushard Becomes First Former Stallion Called to the Show

March 30, 2026

The first player from the Saugerties Stallions has reached the Major Leagues as Matt Pushard made his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Pushard was the closer for Saugerties in 2017 following his freshman season as a Maine Black Bear. That summer he made 17 appearances for the Stallions in the regular season and 1 playoff appearance as he recorded a 2.61 ERA with a 3-1 record and 5 saves in 20.2 innings pitched with 25 strikeouts.

In 2022, the Marlins signed Pushard to a minor league contract. He soared through the Marlins system in 2023 moving from Single-A to High-A to Double-A in a single season and combined to record a 2.91 ERA with 9 saves and 52 strikeouts to 18 walks in 52.2 innings pitched.

Starting the next season in Double-A, Pushard was promoted to Triple-A at the end of the 2024 season and continued to improve as he posted a 2.77 ERA and recorded 68 strikeouts to 18 walks in 55.1 innings.

Spending the full season in Triple-A and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in 2025, Pushard had a 3.90 ERA with 4 saves and 73 strikeouts to 23 walks. On June 27th, he pitched 3 no-hit innings as part of a combined no-hitter and was the winning pitcher in the game as he tallied 5 strikeouts.

This past off-season, the St. Louis Cardinals took Pushard in the Rule 5 Draft during the Winter Meetings. With the Cardinals this spring, the 28-year-old from Bangor, Maine posted a 3.12 ERA in 8 appearances and recorded 9 strikeouts in 8.2 innings with 1 save.

The Cardnials kept Pushard as he made the Opening Day roster and he made his debut against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. Unfortunately, the Rays bats were red hot as they collected 17 hits in the game to defeat the Cardinals 11-7. Matt's debut came in the eighth inning as he surrendered 3 hits and gave up a sac-fly to PGCBL alum Cedric Mullins, who played for Utica in the summer of 2014. Matt would however finish the inning on a high note as he collected his first career strikeout on Junior Caminero as he chased a high fastball to end the inning.

Pushard becomes the 39th player from the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) to play in the Major Leagues. He was one of sixteen former players from the PGCBL to be on an Opening Day roster for 2026 Major League Baseball season.