Cardinals Injury Update: Pitching depth being tested as multiple arms hit the mend

Last season, the St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff was the epitome of a healthy rotation. Not a single major league starter went on the Injured List at any point during the year. The same, however, couldn't be said of the club's pitching prospects. Tekoah Roby, Tink Hence, and Cooper Hjerpe all experienced various injury-related setbacks. Two of those three, Roby and Hjerpe, are still down and out, at least for the time being.

The injury bug that bit the organization's pitching prospects last year has returned with a vengeance early in spring training.

Several St. Louis Cardinals pitchers are experiencing injury-related setbacks early in spring training.

Since spring training started, Pete Hansen, Ixan Henderson, Brandon Clarke, and Riley O'Brien have all gone down with injuries for the Cardinals. Hansen is being eased into a throwing program after experiencing soreness in his left shoulder. Henderson was shut down a week ago due to a left flexor strain. Clarke won't see game action until June due to an aneurysm in his throwing shoulder that required surgery. O'Brien experienced what he described as a mild right calf strain that could keep him out of the World Baseball Classic but likely won't hinder him at the start of the year.

Seeing this many injuries is likely a product of whom and how the Cardinals received. Tekoah Roby, Brandon Clarke, and Cooper Hjerpe were all acquired at discounted trade rates or lower in the draft due to injury concerns. Clarke had Tommy John surgery in 2019, thoracic outlet syndrome in 2022, a stress fracture in his shoulder in 2023, and various blister issues last year.

Tekoah Roby missed time in 2021 due to an ailing elbow then again in 2023 and 2024 with shoulder injuries. Roby had Tommy John surgery in late July of 2025, and he'll miss all of the 2026 season more than likely.

Cooper Hjerpe had Tommy John surgery in April of 2025, and that was just another surgery in a long history for the southpaw. Hjerpe had surgery to remove loose bodies in his throwing elbow in 2023. He had another elbow injury in 2024 and was shut down on July 2nd that year.

This is the cost of acquiring or drafting players with riddled injury histories. They typically have high ceilings, but the perpetual concern of another ailment looms large. Luckily for the Cardinals, Chaim Bloom was busy acquiring a splattering of pitchers this offseason including Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, the aforementioned Brandon Clarke, Yhoiker Fajardo, and Jurrangelo Cijntje, among others.

The Cardinals still have ample depth at the major-league level with Dustin May, Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante, Kyle Leahy, Richard Fitts, and Hunter Dobbins. Quinn Mathews is also readily available out of Triple-A Memphis, and Brycen Mautz and Liam Doyle could make their debuts this year as well. However, these injuries to top pitching prospects complicate the depth chart ever so slightly.

Chaim Bloom worked hard to deepen the Cardinals' prospect depth this winter via trades. While there is still sufficient backfill following these injuries, Bloom's hard work is being tested already.