Cooper Hjerpe #56

Threw four no-hitters, including three in consecutive starts, at Woodland (Calif.) High School, the same school that produced former American League MVP Dustin Pedroia...Played college baseball at Oregon State...Named 2022 College Baseball Federation Pitcher of the Year; and First Team honors All-Pac 12, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)...Led the 2022 NCAA Baseball Division I with a school-record 161 strikeouts, including 10 double-digit strikeout games. Ranked second with 14.02 K/9 IP and 11 wins...Was 15-9 with a 3.37 ERA over three seasons at OSU striking out 257 over 192.1 innings...Struck out a school record 17 batters over 8.0 innings against No. 2 Stanford on April 1, 2022...Was the first Oregon State player to be drafted in the first round since catcher Adley Rutschman went first overall by the Orioles in 2019...His father, Carl, was a pitcher at Cal Poly-SLO (1984-87)...Signed by Chris Rodriguez and Donnie Marbut...Resides in Capay, Calif.

2025

Entered the season as the No. 7 prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America., and selected to Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invite. Appeared in two games, logging a 6.00 ERA (5.0 IP) and striking out 33.3% of his batters faced (8-of-24)...Missed the entire regular season after undergoing Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his left elbow in April. Placed on the 7-Day Injured List on March 31, and transferred to the full-season Injured List on April 15...Had his contracted selected and was added to the Cardinals 40-player Major League roster on Nov. 18, 2025.

2024

Began the season in Peoria (A) making 11 starts before a promotion to Springfield (AA) for four starts before a left elbow injury following his July 2 outing at Northwest Arkansas sidelined him for the rest of the season...Led all Cardinals Minor League pitchers with a .171 opponent batting average, while ranking fourth in strikeouts/9 IP (13.07) and 10th in WHIP (1.13)...Back-to-back winner of 2024 Texas League Player of the Week (June 17 & 24) without allowing a hit in consecutive 5.0-inning starts (10.0 IP, 0 H, 3 BB, 14 SO)...Made four starts without allowing a hit, two in Peoria and two in Springfield (5/8-G1 at Beloit 3.1 IP; 6/6 at Fort Wayne 4.0 IP; 6/20-G1 at Corpus Christi 6.0 IP; 6/26 vs. Arkansas 5.0 IP)...Matched his career-high with eight strikeouts vs. Arkansas (6/26) while pitching 5.0 no-hit innings with two walks over 78 pitches.

2023

Made his professional debut in High-A Peoria, starting eight games and appearing in 10 overall...Named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week (May 22-28)...Ranked among Cardinals Minor League Pitchers in opponent BA (.183, second), strikeouts/9 IP (11.20, seventh) and WHIP (1.24, ninth)...Missed three months of the season on the 7-day Injured List with a left elbow injury (loose bodies)...Threw 6.0 no-hit innings with three walks, five strikeouts and a hit batsman in his final start vs. Great Lakes (5/23) before landing on the Injured List...Returned from the Injured List to make two relief appearances in September and did not throw over 20 pitches in either game...Did not allow more than six hits or four runs in any of his 10 appearances on the season. Struck out five or more batters in every start...Struck out a season-high eight batters vs. Dayton (5/9)...Pitched for Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League posting a 4.32 ERA (8.1 IP) and 15 strikeouts in seven relief outings...Named to the AFL Fall-Stars Game roster.