This former Blue Jay is finally rounding into form with the Cardinals

Steven Matz has had quite an MLB journey.

After spending the first six years of his career with the New York Mets, Matz joined the Toronto Blue Jays via a trade ahead of the 2021 season when Toronto acquired him in exchange for Yennsy Díaz, Sean Reid-Foley and Josh Winckowski.

Matz responded to that trade by turning in one of the best seasons of his career when he went 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 150 2/3 innings.

While the Blue Jays missed out on the postseason in 2021, Matz turned things around after a disastrous 2020 season. And he used that rebound season to earn a four-year, $44 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.

And after three roller seasons with St. Louis, the 34-year-old Matz is beginning to look one of the best relievers in baseball.

Steven Matz is turning into one of MLB's best relievers

Matz enters play on Monday with an impressive 1.91 ERA in 28 1/3 innings. He's made two starts this year (and allowed just one run across nine innings them), but has morphed into oneof the best bullpen weapons in baseball.

He's recorded 23 strikeouts this year compared to just three walks, and has been a big reason for the Cardinals' surprising start to the season.

It wasn't always like this for him in St. Louis. He had a 5.25 ERA in 48 innings in 2022 (his first year with the Cardinals), before recording a 3.86 ERA in 105 innings in 2023 as both a starter and a reliever.

He struggled with injuries and inefficacy last year (5.08 ERA in 44 1/3 innings), but has turned things around this year.

Matz opened the year with a four inning scoreless save, which set the tone for his strong year. He hasn't allowed an earned run in seven of his 10 scoreless appearances this year, and has two holds on the year.

His lone loss this year came in his most recent appearance against the Phillies on May 14. Matz allowed two earned runs on four hits on a rainy night. Both Phillies runs came on infield hits on the slick grass.

Matz currently ranks in the 99th percentile in walk rate and the 85th percentile in barrel rate and expected ERA.

It's not easy to imagine how Matz could help the current iteration of the Blue Jays. The bullpen's working through some kinks right now, and the team could use a veteran swingman like Matz as opposed to having to rely on guys like Eric Lauer and José Ureña.

The writing was on the way for Matz's departure when the Blue Jays didn't extend a qualifying offer to Matz after the season, which paved the way for him to join the Cardinals' roster.

That said, the Blue Jays' trade for Matz is still a win even though Matz only spent one year in Toronto. The rest of Díaz's MLB career consisted of 25 ineffective innings with the Mets in 2021; Reid-Foley has been worth -0.1 bWAR across four seasons in New York and the Mets flipped Winckowski to the Red Sox a couple weeks after acquiring him.

Still, Matz having some success for another franchise likely still stings a bit for Blue Jays fans in the same way it stings having to see Teoscar Hernández excel for the Dodgers.