The Cardinals have called up left-handed pitching prospect Cooper Hjerpe from Triple-A Memphis, the team announced. They sent righty Hancel Rincón to Memphis in a corresponding move.
The 25-year-old Hjerpe will make his major league debut on Sunday and follow right-handed starter Kyle Leahy against the Rockies, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. A former Oregon State standout, Hjerpe has been in the organization since he went 22nd overall in the 2022 draft.
Hjerpe notched a 3.37 ERA with a lofty 32.8% strikeout percentage rate in 93 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A through 2024, but control and injury problems have slowed him as a professional. He walked approximately 14% of hitters from 2023-24, underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow in the first of those seasons, and didn’t pitch at all last year as a result of a Tommy John procedure.
At risk of losing Hjerpe in last winter’s Rule 5 draft, the Cardinals added him to their 40-man roster in late November. He was still recovering from surgery then, but the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder has returned to record a 3.00 ERA in a combined 42 innings at three different levels. That includes an incredible 0.95 mark in Hjerpe’s first 19 Triple-A frames.
Despite low average fastball velocity (91 mph), the sidearming Hjerpe has used a pitch mix that also includes a sweeper and a changeup to punch out 34.2% of hitters in Memphis. At the same time, though, he has issued free passes at a hefty 21.5% clip. While MLB Pipeline ranks Hjerpe as the Cardinals’ 18th-best prospect, the outlet points to concerns over his ongoing control woes.
Rincón is already going back to Memphis six days after St. Louis selected his contract. The 24-year-old gave up a whopping seven earned runs over 1 1/3 innings in his first two appearances, but that took a backseat to a bizarre cap-related dust-up in his debut.
After Rincón entered the game Friday, home-plate umpire and crew chief Doug Eddings ordered him to straighten out his cap. Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman was accused of complaining about it, which he denied. Eddings wound up ejecting Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol from the game. The Cardinals and some members of the Rockies sported crooked hats in protest on Saturday, but cooler heads prevailed when Eddings apologized to Rincón.
