The St. Louis Cardinals have decided to fully lean into a youth movement, shipping out beloved veterans such as Sonny Gray and Nolan Arenado to try and hand over the keys to the franchise to their young players, most notably burgeoning young shortstop Masyn Winn. However, the Cardinals may have to go through some arduous growing pains just to get back to their usual contending ways.
One of the primary returns the Cardinals got from the Boston Red Sox in the Gray trade was left-handed pitcher Brandon Clarke, a 22-year-old with incredible stuff and familiar command issues for such a young player. It would be one thing if Clarke were healthy enough to work through those kinks in his game to try and help St. Louis in the near future.
Alas, Clarke was diagnosed with an aneurysm in his left shoulder, as per Brian Walton of The Cardinal Nation, which would then keep him out until June at the earliest. The 22-year-old lefty even underwent surgery to correct the issue, which certainly indicates how serious the injury truly was.
Last season, Clarke made 14 starts across two A-ball levels for the Red Sox organization, pitching in a total of 38.0 innings. He had an ERA of 4.03, although that figure ballooned to 5.08 in High-A. His stuff is nasty, striking out over 14 batters per nine innings, but he misses the strike zone way too often, walking 6.39 per nine.
Cardinals youngster has a lengthy injury history
Clarke has a long injury history: as per Walton, he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and he missed the entirety of the 2022 season for Alabama after requiring surgery to rectify his thoracic outlet syndrome. And then in 2023, after transferring to State College of Florida, he suffered a stress fracture in his shoulder.
Suffice to say, the Cardinals youngster has accrued a ton of wear and tear on his shoulder and elbow, requiring everyone to handle his health with care.
