A daunting choice looms regarding one of the Cardinals' top prospects

The St. Louis Cardinals' ability to evaluate their young talent will undergo a stiff test following the 2025 season. The organization has overhauled its development staff, plucking cutting-edge brains from premier pitching factories such as the Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners, and Chaim Bloom will be tasked with determining which players stay and which ones go. One of his first tasks will be to decide the fate of former first-round pick Cooper Hjerpe.

The Cardinals will have to choose a path with Cooper Hjerpe.

Hjerpe, a left-handed pitcher whom the Cardinals grabbed with the 22nd overall pick in the 2022 amateur draft, flashed a deceptive sidearm delivery and a 32.8% strikeout rate in the minor leagues. But the catch is that Hjerpe has only managed 93.1 innings over that span. He made just eight starts in 2023 because of an operation to remove loose bodies from his elbow, and he was shut down again in July 2024 for an injury that ultimately necessitated Tommy John surgery, which will keep him out until at least partially through the 2026 season.

The dilemma with the 24-year-old Hjerpe lies in December's Rule 5 draft. Baseball's rules stipulate that a player who is signed at age 19 or older must be added to his team's 40-man roster within four seasons; otherwise, teams that choose to participate in the Rule 5 draft will have an opportunity to snag him from the Cardinals. It wouldn't be the first time that a player afflicted with an injury is selected in the Rule 5 draft; according to MLB Trade Rumors, pitchers Angel Bastardo and Nate Lavender had also undergone Tommy John surgery that season and were chosen by other clubs.

Hjerpe's development has stalled massively thanks to the injuries, and he now looks more likely to have a future out of the bullpen than in the rotation. However, organizations that can develop pitching would likely salivate at the opportunity to take a prospect as highly regarded as Hjerpe and see if they can take a crack at developing him.

There is no such thing as too much pitching depth, and if the Cardinals value Hjerpe and believe that he can go on to have a productive career, they should be willing to shuffle their roster to make room for the talented lefty. The team may be willing to deal several of its players on expiring contracts at the trade deadline, including Ryan Helsley and Erick Fedde. Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz and Phil Maton could also depart via trade or after the season, allowing the Cardinals to make room for some younger faces.

The Cardinals have several others who will be exposed to the Rule 5 draft this year. Catchers Jimmy Crooks and Leonardo Bernal, infielder Cesar Prieto, outfielder Joshua Baez, and pitchers Max Rajcic, Brycen Mautz and Pete Hansen are all notable names who could be claimed if the Cardinals don't add them to their 40-man roster by December.

Hjerpe is the biggest unknown out of all of these because of the scarcity of his pitching appearances thus far in his career, and he will be the team's most fascinating case. If the Cardinals believe that they now have the required skill in developing successful pitchers that they were lacking for so long, they will likely find space on the roster for him. After all, skilled left-handed pitchers don't grow on trees. But if the Cardinals don't believe he will remain intact following his injury woes and there are others whom they would prefer to protect on the 40-man roster, they may opt to cut bait with him and allow Bloom's front office to take a stab at unearthing the next pitching superstar.