Scouting Report

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Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

Henderson stayed in his own backyard when it came time to head to college, going from Clovis West High School in Fresno, Calif., to Fresno State. He made an immediate impact, mostly out of the bullpen, as a freshman in 2021, then earned All-Mountain West First Team honors with a full-time move into the rotation last year. He’s been the Bulldogs’ Friday night starter this year and has had his most productive season yet, giving him the chance to become the highest-drafted pitcher from the school since Ryan Jensen was the Cubs’ first-rounder in 2019.

None of Henderson’s offerings jump off the page, but the left-hander has a very good feel of what to do with his four-pitch repertoire. While his fastball tops out at 94 mph and averages right around 91, it’s a sneaky heater that comes with deception thanks to his arm slot and serves as his out pitch. His secondary stuff supports his fastball and allows it to play up, and he leans on it heavily. The best of those is his upper-70s slider that can miss a decent amount of bats, though he also has a slower curve, with the two blending together at times. There’s some feel for his changeup, though he needs to commit to throwing it more.

Some scouts feel that’s the key to Henderson having success at the next level. He’s athletic on the mound, with a free and easy delivery, giving hope that he could throw harder in the future and that he’ll continue to improve his strike-throwing ability. The ceiling is a bit limited, but he could be an intriguing middle-round type of pick for teams looking for college arms.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 45 | Cutter: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

A graduate of Clovis West High School, Henderson stayed local by attending Fresno State and was a two-time All-Mountain West First Teamer with the Bulldogs, culminating in his role as the Friday starter as a junior in 2023. After posting a 3.74 ERA with 100 strikeouts in 89 innings, he went to the Cardinals in the eighth round that summer and signed for slightly above slot at $230,000. The southpaw enjoyed a solid first full season with Single-A Palm Beach and High-A Peoria (2.34 ERA, 105 K in 104 IP) and rounded out the campaign with 12 more innings in the Arizona Fall League. He’s opened 2025 with Double-A Springfield.

The 6-foot-2 hurler has shown a velocity bump at the start of his second full season that has brought his fastball to the 93-94 mph range, touching 96. Even when it averaged a little lower than that, the heater still played up with a flat approach out of a fairly deceptive three-quarters arm slot. He has to keep that fastball up, however, because upper-level hitters will crush it if it’s thrown in the heart of the zone. Henderson has also leaned more heavily on a 79-82 mph sweeping slider, breaking it away from lefties and backfooting righties, and he's folded in an upper-80s cutter to bridge his repertoire. As part of that arsenal alteration, his upper-70s curveball, which can be overly loopy, has taken a backseat, while a mid-80s changeup is reserved solely for righties.

Henderson has an easy delivery, and dating back to the Draft, scouts had hoped that he could add velo with more pro instruction. His walk numbers suffered a little the higher he climbed in ’24, but he should still have at least average control, helping his chances of being a backend starter.

Awards

Baseball America Double-A All-Star

Year	Team
2025

TEX Post-Season All-Star

Year	Team
2025

TEX Pitcher of the Year

Year	Team
2025

TEX Pitcher of the Week

Week	Team
08/17/2025

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	03/31/2025	LHP Ixan Henderson assigned to Springfield Cardinals from Peoria Chiefs.
	09/25/2024	LHP Ixan Henderson assigned to Glendale Desert Dogs.
	07/30/2024	LHP Ixan Henderson assigned to Peoria Chiefs from Palm Beach Cardinals.
	04/05/2024	LHP Ixan Henderson assigned to Palm Beach Cardinals.
	08/22/2023	LHP Ixan Henderson assigned to FCL Cardinals from Palm Beach Cardinals.
	08/22/2023	FCL Cardinals activated LHP Ixan Henderson.
	08/04/2023	LHP Ixan Henderson assigned to Palm Beach Cardinals.
	07/16/2023	St. Louis Cardinals signed LHP Ixan Henderson.
	06/15/2023	LHP Ixan Henderson assigned to College Workout.
	02/10/2023	Fresno State Bulldogs activated LHP Ixan Henderson.
	02/10/2023	LHP Ixan Henderson assigned to Fresno State Bulldogs.