Cooper Hjerpe

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Cooper Hjerpe
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher
Born: (2001-03-16) March 16, 2001 (age 23)
Davis, California, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Left

Cooper Austin Hjerpe (born March 16, 2001) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He was selected 22nd overall by the Cardinals in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.

Amateur career[edit]

Hjerpe attended Woodland High School in Woodland, California, a city northwest of Sacramento.[1] He committed to play college baseball at Oregon State University as a sophomore.[2] As a junior in 2018, he went 8–0 with a 0.78 ERA and 128 strikeouts over 53+2⁄3 innings alongside hitting eight home runs.[3] In 2019, as a senior, he struck out 105 batters in 44 innings and threw four no-hitters.[4] He went unselected in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft and enrolled at Oregon State to play collegiate baseball.

In 2020, Hjerpe's freshman year at Oregon State, he made six relief appearances and went 1–1 with a 5.25 ERA before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a redshirt freshman in 2021, he was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week as well as the National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on May 24 after he gave up one run and two hits while striking out 11 in a 3–1 win versus the seventh-ranked Arizona Wildcats.[5] For the season, he pitched in 17 games (making 16 starts) and went 3–6 with a 4.21 ERA and 98 strikeouts over 77 innings.[6]

Hjerpe entered the 2022 season as Oregon State's number one starter and garnered numerous preseason All-American honors.[7] On March 22, he was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the second time in his career after pitching seven innings and giving up one hit while striking out 12 in a 21–0 win versus the Arizona State Sun Devils.[8] On April 1, in a 1–0 loss versus the Stanford Cardinal, Hjerpe threw eight scoreless innings and struck out 17 batters, tied for the most in school history, and was once again named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week and National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.[9][10] At the end of the regular season, he was named to the Pac-12 First Team as well as being named an All American.[11][12] Hjerpe was scheduled to start the first game of Oregon State's Super Regional versus Auburn University, but was scratched due to an undisclosed illness.[13] He pitched in Game 2 of the Super Regional and passed former Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich for the school record for most strikeouts in a season with 161.[14] Hjerpe finished the 2022 season having started 17 games, going 11–2 with a 2.53 ERA, 161 strikeouts, and 23 walks over 103+1⁄3 innings.[15] He was named the 2022 National Pitcher of the Year.[16]

Professional career[edit]

The St. Louis Cardinals selected Hjerpe in the first round with the 22nd overall selection of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.[17] He signed with the club for $3.18 million.[18]

To open the 2023 season, Hjerpe was assigned to the Peoria Chiefs of the High-A Midwest League with whom he made his professional debut.[19][20] He missed time during the season due to an elbow injury that required surgery.[21] Over ten games (eight starts), he went 2–3 with a 3.51 ERA and 51 strikeouts over 41 innings.[22] He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League with the Scottsdale Scorpions.[23]

Personal life[edit]

Hjerpe's father, Carl, played college baseball for the Cal Poly Mustangs in the 1980s.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Davidson, Joe (June 5, 2019). "Home run off the church roof, no-hitters make even a humble Cooper Hjerpe beam". The Sacramento Bee.
  2. ^ Nicholson, Ada (August 22, 2018). "LHP Cooper Hjerpe talks summer travels & Oregon State commitment". 247Sports.com.
  3. ^ Askeland, Kevin (July 20, 2018). "2018 MaxPreps California Small Schools All-State Baseball Teams". MaxPreps.
  4. ^ Ray, Mike; Pecoraro, Nick (July 5, 2019). "Local players earn MaxPreps All-State Baseball honors". Gold Country Media.
  5. ^ Freeman, Joe (May 24, 2021). "Oregon State's Cooper Hjerpe earns Pac-12 and national player of the week honors". The Oregonian.
  6. ^ Freeman, Joe (February 18, 2022). "Oregon State baseball season opener: Mystery lineups, freshman hype, COVID protocols". The Oregonian.
  7. ^ Freeman, Joe (February 1, 2022). "Oregon State's Cooper Hjerpe earns more preseason All-American accolades". The Oregonian.
  8. ^ Sowa, Jesse (March 22, 2022). "OSU baseball notebook: Melton tops Pac-12 offensive lists". Corvallis Gazette-Times.
  9. ^ Freeman, Joe (April 1, 2022). "Stanford spoils Cooper Hjerpe's historic night, deals Oregon State 1-0 extra-inning loss". The Oregonian.
  10. ^ Freeman, Joe (April 4, 2022). "Oregon State's Cooper Hjerpe earns national and Pac-12 weekly honors". The Oregonian.
  11. ^ Freeman, Joe (June 2, 2022). "Oregon State's Cooper Hjerpe, Jacob Melton named All-Americans". The Oregonian.
  12. ^ "Boyd, Hjerpe, Melton Earn NCBWA All-America Honors". Oregon State University Athletics Department. June 15, 2022.
  13. ^ "Oregon State ace Cooper Hjerpe out for Auburn baseball super regional Game 1". Montgomeryadvertiser.com.
  14. ^ "Cooper Hjerpe curtain call: Oregon State ace returns for 'special moment' as Beavers beat Auburn in Corvallis Super Regional". Oregonlive.com. 13 June 2022.
  15. ^ "OSU baseball: Hjerpe top collegiate pitcher". Democratherald.com. 15 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Hjerpe named National Pitcher of the Year, cements status as latest Beaver legend to toe the rubber". MLB.com. June 15, 2022.
  17. ^ Goold, Derrick (17 July 2022). "Cardinals draft Oregon State's Cooper Hjerpe, lefty who defies bats, delights metrics". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  18. ^ "MLB Draft Tracker". MLB.com. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Where the Cardinals' Top 30 prospects are starting season". MLB.com.
  20. ^ "Minor league report: Cardinals first-round draftee Cooper Hjerpe makes pro debut". 8 April 2023.
  21. ^ "Cardinals' Cooper Hjerpe: Recovering from minor elbow surgery". 24 August 2023.
  22. ^ https://www.ballysports.com/midwest/news/victor-scott-st-louis-cardinals-prospects-arizona-fall-league
  23. ^ "Here are the 2023 Arizona Fall League rosters". MLB.com.
  24. ^ Daschel, Nick (May 17, 2019). "Oregon State baseball signs 11 players, including Tualatin senior Kyle Dernedde". The Oregonian.

External links[edit]

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