Cardinals prospect Cooper Hjerpe, the club’s first-round pick in the 2022 MLB draft, moved a step closer to the majors on Tuesday as he received a promotion from Class High-A to Class AA.
Hjerpe, 23, posted a 3.35 ERA and struck out 56 batters across 37 2/3 innings in 11 starts for High-A Peoria. The promotion is Hjerpe’s first after making his debut in pro baseball in 2023. He joins a Springfield club that rosters Cardinals top pitching prospect Tink Hence, St. Louis’s 2023 minor league pitcher of the year and fellow 2022 draftee Max Rajcic, and 2023 deadline acquisition Tekoah Roby, the latter of whom is on the injured list.
The left-hander is listed as Springfield's Wednesday starter.
After arthroscopic elbow surgery limited Hjerpe to 41 regular season innings and 8 1/3 innings in the Arizona Fall League last year, Hjerpe has posted a 35.2% strikeout rate and a 12.6% walk rate to open his second pro season. The Oregon State University product with a “funky” delivery has limited opposing hitters to a .188 average and induced a 50.6% groundball rate, per FanGraphs. He ranks second behind 2023 draftee and High-A lefty Quinn Mathews (31.9%) in strikeout rate among Cardinals prospects.
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Hjerpe has yet to complete more than four innings in any of his 11 starts to being this season. The 23-year-old, who was a non-roster invitee to big league camp this past spring, has completed four innings in six starts and been kept under 70 pitches in each of his outings. His most recent start before his promotion included four hitless innings, five strikeouts, and three walks on 59 pitches.