Cardinals' forgotten first-round pick Is finally making his way back from injury

The St. Louis Cardinals' pitching pipeline has seen a ton of fun additions over the last year, but 2022 first-round pick Cooper Hjerpe is on his way back from injury and ready to remind Cardinals fans of how exciting a talent he is.

Hjerpe, who has been sidelined due to Tommy John surgery since last April, is beginning his rehab assignment with the Florida Complex League Cardinals, and if all goes well, we should see him pitching in minor league games again this year.

Hjerpe's delivery and throwing motion have drawn comparisons to Cy Young winner Chris Sale due to the extremely low three-quarter arm slot with crossfire action. While Hjerpe doesn't have high velocity like a Sale does, he creates a ton of deception and weird angles for opposing hitters, allowing him to strike out an absurd 35.2% of the batters he faced back in 2024.

Since being drafted, there have been zero questions in terms of the production you see from Hjerpe on the field, but rather, the Cardinals have been struggling to find ways to keep him healthy. There's a lot of hope now that he's had the Tommy John surgery that it may correct other ailments that have popped up for Hjerpe over the years, and if that's the case, the Cardinals may have a dynamic arm on their hands once again.

Cooper Hjerpe could become a major weapon for the Cardinals moving forward

How the Cardinals handle Hjerpe's development moving forward is going to be fascinating to watch. Hjerpe is far too intriguing a prospect to punt on a future as a starter, but, considering that he has not thrown more than 52.1 innings in a year since being drafted, is coming off missing an entire season due to Tommy John, and is already on the Cardinals' 40-man roster, I do wonder if they may get creative in how they build him up.

While most starting pitching prospects benefit from being able to stay on a starter's track throughout their development, Hjerpe may be a case of someone who can provide the Cardinals a lot of value in the near-term out of the bullpen as he builds back up to potentially starting again.

The likelihood that Hjerpe is going to give the Cardinals significant innings this year or next season feels pretty low. So perhaps if Hjerpe's rehab assignment and then time back on a minor league mound go well, the Cardinals could tap into him as a lefty weapon at the Major League level, maybe even one who could give them multiple innings at a time as he builds back up. Hjerpe could be very valuable in that role, and then come to camp in 2027 or 2028 prepared to start again.

The other dynamic here is that Hjerpe turned 25 back in March, so if he doesn't debut this year, we are talking about a former first-round pick who will turn 26 before making it to St. Louis. That's not the end of the world by any means, but it starts to feel pretty realistic that in order to build him up well, you're not going to get him as a full-time MLB starter until he's 27 or 28 years old. So maybe get value now while still hoping to see him through as a starter in the future?

How the Cardinals handle Hjerpe's return is going to be very interesting to watch, but at the end of the day, the biggest thing is just seeing him stay healthy and produce on the mound. So far, when he is feeling good, Hjerpe has been incredible to watch. So, whether he starts or ends up in a bullpen for a bit, the Cardinals have to be thrilled to have his arm back in the mix.

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