Hjerpe commanded attention during his three-year run at Oregon State, culminating in his place as a Golden Spikes Award finalist as a junior in 2022. The Cardinals selected him 22nd overall that July and signed him for full slot at $3,182,500. Elbow issues have befallen Hjerpe in pro ball ever since with arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies in his left elbow in 2023, inflammation that limited him to 52 1/3 innings in 2024 and a torn UCL that forced him to get Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2025. The Cardinals still added Hjerpe to the 40-man roster when he was Rule 5-eligible last November.
A big reason why St. Louis protected the 6-foot-3 southpaw is his uniqueness on the bump. Hjerpe throws from a sidearm angle and gets down the mound to release from a low height that makes him really tough to read for hitters. His fastball only sat 90-93 mph at High-A and Double-A in 2024, but the flat approach angle helped him pick up whiffs in buckets. His upper-70s sweeper comes with a ton of gloveside break, making it a menace for fellow lefties, and his 79-82 mph changeup would mirror the horizontal movement going the other way from righties, adding to the east-west feel. There was also a mid-80s cutter that bridged the arsenal.
With Hjerpe’s stuff going every which way, walks can pile up if hitters stay disciplined against him, but that isn’t always a given because of how goofy his repertoire can be. Reestablishing health will be Hjerpe’s biggest goal in his age-25 season, and with the 40-man clock already ticking, the gravity of a move to the bullpen grows stronger.
Hjerpe was a Golden Spikes Award finalist in 2022 after striking out 161 batters in 103 1/3 innings for Oregon State, and the Cardinals drafted him 22nd overall that July. After signing for full slot at $3,182,200, the southpaw pitched two months at High-A Peoria before undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies in his left elbow. He made seven Arizona Fall League appearances to make up for some of the lost time. He returned to the Midwest League to begin 2024, was promoted to Double-A Springfield in early June and struck out 20 in 14 2/3 innings before hitting the injured list again with elbow inflammation. He was considered healthy to begin spring but opened the season on the IL and underwent Tommy John surgery that will keep him out until the middle of 2026.
The 6-foot-3 left-hander can wow evaluators with sidearm mechanics that make virtually his entire arsenal tough to touch. He regained some velocity in 2024, back to 90-93 mph with his fastball. The pitch is tough to read with such a flat approach angle, leading to a higher whiff rate than many faster heaters. His upper-70s sweeper breaks hard gloveside, and lefties particularly can do little but wave at it. His 79-82 mph changeup can be a weapon against righties too as a cambio with good separation and almost equal horizontal break to the slider except going the other way.
The former Beaver has also incorporated a mid-80s cutter for a sharper bridge pitch. The break on his stuff in all directions can make it difficult to land in the zone at times, but it can still work with the amount of goofy swings Hjerpe elicits. Health has been a consistent issue for Hjerpe as a pro, and he’ll be 25 when he returns to the professional mound, at which time the calls for him to move to the bullpen might be louder than ever.
Hjerpe was arguably the most effective Division I pitcher in the country in 2022 as he finished with a 2.53 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 161 strikeouts in 103 1/3 innings for Oregon State – numbers that made him a Golden Spikes Award finalist. The Cardinals selected him 22nd overall that July and signed him for full slot at $3,182,200. Hjerpe made it through two months of his first full season with High-A Peoria but needed arthroscopic surgery to remove loose cartilage from his left elbow that knocked him out for a little more than three months. He returned for the Arizona Fall League but was still limited to 8 1/3 innings over seven appearances.
The 6-foot-3 southpaw’s sidearm mechanics immediately stand out to any onlooker during his appearances. The crossfire angle creates a lot of deception from such a tough arm slot, and the ball can absolutely jump on batters. That said, Hjerpe’s fastball sat 88-91 mph after the procedure – down a tick or two from college – but still had the vertical action that made it most interesting. His upper-70s sweeper has plenty of gloveside horizontal break, while his upper-70s changeup runs the other direction with decent fade. Hjerpe also started incorporating a mid-80s cutter that remains a work in progress.
The former Beaver didn’t have control issues in college, but those have become more worrisome in the pros. Hjerpe’s supporters believe 2023 was a lost year due to the surgery and his pitch characteristics can still make him an enticing starter. His detractors would like to see him stick to a mound more consistently after elbow issues popped up again in 2024.
Hjerpe didn’t get much attention from scouts when he was coming out of the California prep ranks, but he certainly commanded it after his three seasons at Oregon State. The southpaw became the Beavers’ Friday starter as a junior and thrived in the role as one of NCAA Division I’s most consistent starters with a 2.53 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 161 strikeouts in 103 1/3 innings. Those results helped make him a Golden Spikes Award finalist alongside Kevin Parada and eventual winner Ivan Melendez, but the biggest prize may have come when the Cardinals selected him 22nd overall in July and signed him for full slot at $3,182,200.
The left-hander’s college workload meant he hasn’t thrown a pitch in a pro game entering 2023, but his stuff with Oregon State should make him an intriguing follow in his first full season. Standing at 6-foot-3, Hjerpe fires from a deceptive crossfire angle from a delivery that gets him impressive extension off the bump. That level of deceit makes his low-90s fastball play well above its velocity and makes the heater look downright explosive out of the hand. He tunnels his breaking stuff well off it with an upper-70s sweeping slider or a mid-70s curveball that can give a slower, more downward look. His fading changeup, sitting right around 80 mph, flashes above-average too and gives him a full starter’s arsenal.
Hjerpe appears almost fearless with the way he goes right after hitters, and despite his unorthodox mechanics, he throws plenty of strikes that should keep him in a starting role. He may already be a first-rounder, but his combination of stuff, presence and command remain promising. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a loose body from his left elbow in the midst of the his first full season, putting the brakes on what could have been a breakout campaign.
Hjerpe is a talented lefty from the California prep ranks who didn’t get much attention from Major League teams, and he headed to Oregon State. After pitching out of the bullpen briefly as a freshman in the shortened 2020 season, he moved into the Beavers’ weekend rotation, pitching on Saturdays for a team that made the NCAA Regionals. The southpaw moved into the Friday night role this year and saw his stock improve greatly as one of the more consistent starters in the country, so much so that the Cardinals selected him 22nd overall in July.
While Hjerpe doesn’t light up radar guns, he does a have a starter’s full repertoire, a ton of deception and a huge competitive streak. His fastball will typically sit in the 91-93 mph range, occasionally touching a bit higher. It plays up because of a funky, cross-fire delivery that makes the ball hard for even right-handed hitters to pick up, and because he combines it with his breaking ball so well. It’s kind of a Laredo, coming from a low three-quarters slot, and Hjerpe can vary its shape. One is more of a slow sweeping curve, thrown in the mid-70s, and the other is tighter with more slider characteristics, thrown up around 80 mph. His average changeup features good fade and should be a weapon for him in the future.
Even with the funk in his delivery, Hjerpe tends to always finish online, leading to a belief that he’s going to throw more than enough strikes in the future, and he is fearless on the mound. His ceiling is a bit limited, but there’s certainly the potential for him to settle into the middle of a future St. Louis rotation.
Hjerpe was a talented lefty from the California prep ranks who didn’t get much attention from Major League teams, and he headed to Oregon State. After pitching out of the bullpen briefly as a freshman in the shortened 2020 season, he moved into the Beavers’ weekend rotation, pitching on Saturdays for a team that made the NCAA Regionals. The southpaw has moved into the Friday night role this year and seen his stock improve greatly as one of the more consistent starters in the country.
While Hjerpe doesn’t light up radar guns, he does a have a full starter’s repertoire, a ton of deception and a huge competitive streak. His fastball will typically sit in the 91-93 mph range, occasionally touching a bit higher. It plays up because of a funky, cross-fire delivery that makes the ball hard for even right-handed hitters to pick up, and because he combines it with his breaking ball so well. It’s kind of a Laredo, coming from a low three-quarters slot, and Hjerpe can vary its shape. One is more of a slow sweeping curve, thrown in the mid-70s, and the other is tighter with more slider characteristics, thrown up around 80 mph. His average changeup features good fade and should be a weapon for him in the future.
Even with the funk in his delivery, Hjerpe tends to always finish online, leading to a belief that he’s going to throw more than enough strikes in the future, and he is fearless on the mound. His ceiling is a bit limited, but mid-rotation southpaws who perform well in big college conferences tend to do decently when the Draft comes around.
How this works:
This section shows two different ways to evaluate pitch movement.
On the left, “Total Movement” shows the real-world movement of a pitch, including the forces of gravity, which affects every pitch thrown.
Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren't 'better' just because they have more time to move, a pitch's movement is compared to other pitches of the same pitch type, within +/- 2 MPH and +/- 0.5 feet of extension/release.
On the right, Induced Movement (or IVB) is reported without gravity, and attempts to isolate movement created by the pitcher's ability to spin and manipulate the ball.
These run values are leveraged, meaning the base/out situation at the time of the event does impact the run value (thus introducing context outside the batter's own contribution).
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift:
three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of
their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about
how positioning is defined here
