If you're a St. Louis Cardinals fan, you should be very excited about No. 7 prospect Brandon Clarke right now.
Now, this doesn't mean that Clarke is going to be in the majors in the near future. Clarke hasn't pitched above High-A in his young professional baseball career so far. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft by the Boston Red Sox and made his professional debut in 2025 while pitching at the Class-A and High-A level. Clarke was traded to the Cardinals this past offseason in the Sonny Gray deal and missed the first few months due to injury . But now he's healthy and he has already impressed.
Clarke made his season debut on July 11 for the FCL Cardinals. Then, he made his second appearance of the season on July 18 for Class-A Palm Beach. Although he pitched just 1 1/3 innings, he shined while topping out at a blistering 103.1 miles per hour with his fastball. If that doesn't impress you enough, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom's comments will add more fuel to the fire.
Apr 21, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
"One of the most exciting, one of the most talented arms you're going to find, probably in the entire game ... still a work in progress but in terms of the arm talent, in terms of the upside, it's as good as you're going to find," Bloom said while joining "Sports on a Sunday Morning" on KMOX Sports with Tom Ackerman.
One thing that is very clear about Bloom - and has been throughout his career in Major League Baseball -is that he knows how to build an elite farm system. He has done it everywhere he has gone and we've already started to see the Cardinals take a big step in that direction. Going out and acquiring Clarke in the Gray deal already looks good after just two appearances in the minors.
Clarke is a 23-year-old pitching prospect who has already shown that he can top 103 miles per hour. Imagine what he's going to look like as he continues to progress through St. Louis ' farm system? Pitching has been the biggest question mark for the Cardinals for a while.
One day, in the not-so-distant future, there is a real chance that the Cardinals' rotation features Michael McGreevy , Liam Doyle, Quinn Mathews , Jurrangelo Cijntje and Clarke. There is so much talent in the system right now, it's insane. The Seattle Mariners built their elite rotation with mainly homegrown talent. The Cardinals have pieces with upside to be just like that.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/cardinals/onsi as Cardinals' Chaim Bloom Fuels Brandon Clarke Hype Train .
