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Cardinals’ Cooper Hjerpe Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

By Darragh McDonald | April 15, 2025 at 2:33pm CDT

The Cardinals announced that pitching prospect Cooper Hjerpe has undergone Tommy John surgery. The left-hander will miss the entire 2025 season and won’t be expected back until midway through the 2026 campaign.

Hjerpe, 24, is one of the club’s top pitching prospects. He was selected in the first round, 22nd overall, in the 2022 draft. He received a signing bonus of just under $3.2MM. He has since posted some intriguing minor league numbers, with plenty of strikeouts though also lots of walks. He logged 93 1/3 innings over 2023 and 2024, splitting his time between High-A and Double-A. He allowed 3.37 earned runs per nine, punching out 32.8% of batters faced but also giving out free passes at a 13.7% clip.

His elbow health, or lack thereof, has been a part of the trajectory in that time. He required surgery to remove loose bodies from that elbow in 2023, limiting him to just eight starts that year. In 2024, his final start of the season was on July 2, with an elbow injury shutting him down from then on.

Clubs and pitchers generally prefer to take non-surgical approaches to injuries for as long as they can, as going under the knife is such a lengthy time commitment and there are no guarantees that a player will return to 100% effectiveness afterwards. But in this case, it could be avoided no longer, so Hjerpe is now going to be on the shelf for a while.

Despite the limited workload, Hjerpe is well regarded. Baseball America currently lists him as the #7 prospect in the Cards’ system, highlighting his unique sidearm delivery as he throws an arsenal that includes a fastball, curveball, cutter and changeup. Back in May of last year, Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice of FanGraphs had him in the #5 spot.

If Hjerpe were healthy here in 2025, he likely would have returned to Double-A and could have pushed for a Triple-A promotion at some point during the season. All that will have to be kicked down the road now.

Some interesting decision points will come this winter, as Hjerpe will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December. The Cards will have to decide if it’s worth giving him a 40-man spot by the Rule 5 protection deadline in November. He’s obviously an important prospect in the system but has a limited track record and will still be rehabbing at that time. However, grabbing an injured pitcher in the Rule 5 isn’t unprecedented. In the most recent iteration, the Blue Jays took Angel Bastardo from the Red Sox while the Rays grabbed Nate Lavender from the Mets. Both of those pitchers underwent Tommy John surgeries last summer and could potentially return later this year.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals Cooper Hjerpe

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23 Comments

  1. playhard9

    6 months ago

    What a downer! This kid has arm action like Chris Sale and has a promising future. Best wishes on a speedy recovery Cooper.

    5
    Reply
  2. Acoss1331

    6 months ago

    That 3.2 million signing bonus is looking pretty good right now. Good luck young man see you next year!

    2
    Reply
  3. mike z

    6 months ago

    Hjerpes never really go away. Don’t ask me how I know.

    20
    Reply
    • BaseballBrian

      6 months ago

      A or B?

      Reply
      • BaseballBrian

        6 months ago

        My bad. 1 or 2?

        1
        Reply
        • Bucket Number Six

          6 months ago

          Like Ramon, Herpes Simplex 10.

          2
          Reply
        • crease77

          6 months ago

          “Yes I think that would be best” lol

          1
          Reply
        • uvmfiji

          6 months ago

          Retired reliever Matt Herpes

          Reply
    • Soto should bat first.

      6 months ago

      How do you know?!?!?!

      1
      Reply
  4. Rsox

    6 months ago

    That seems kind of drastic, i thought they gave you antibiotics or ointments for that…

    4
    Reply
  5. D2323

    6 months ago

    It’s spreading like wildfire…

    2
    Reply
  6. Bart Harley Jarvis

    6 months ago

    So, is Cooper Hjerpe out with TJS or an STI or both?

    Reply
    • Soto should bat first.

      6 months ago

      A sexually transmitted UCL virus, no doubt.

      3
      Reply
  7. King. Of. Cards

    6 months ago

    The Cardinals can certainly use a 40 man spot for him in 2026 if needed. Why wouldn’t they? There are always spots available on the 40 man. And isn’t the fact that he’s on the IL change things? Pretty sure it does.

    Reply
    • Non Roster Invitee

      6 months ago

      Simplex thing to do.

      5
      Reply
    • Bradleyd222

      6 months ago

      Agree…. Especially with all of the FA’s opening up spots (Matz, Mikolas, Helsley for example).

      I will say I have no clue who else will need to be added.

      Reply
  8. For Love of the Game

    6 months ago

    35 years ago I had goofy neighbors named the Plateks (“Playtex”). I thought that was rough until I heard this one – the Hjerpes family!

    1
    Reply
    • Bucket Number Six

      6 months ago

      The h is supposedly silent, but I don’t believe him.

      Reply
      • paddyo furnichuh

        6 months ago

        He’ll put the H-J in Tommy JoHn.

        Reply
  9. bwmiller79

    6 months ago

    yeah but the latinos reading the J as an H too, that is pretty funny.

    Reply
    • paddyo furnichuh

      6 months ago

      Not sure how that’s relevant with a name like Cooper Austin from Davis, CA (go Aggies!)

      Often times, J has a Y sound in Spanish first names ( with regional variation of course) as in Yessica or Yesenia(but spelled with a J).

      Reply
  10. Old York

    6 months ago

    Are they going to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft by putting him on their 40-man roster in December? Could be an interesting pick up for another team if they don’t.

    Reply
  11. geanplayzyt

    6 months ago

    Another One Bites The Dust

    1
    Reply

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