photo: Brandon Clarke (Greenville Drive)
Acquired from Boston in the Sonny Gray trade, minor league left-handed pitcher Brandon Clarke is expected to be out until June. It is the continuation of a concerning injury history for the 22-year-old top prospect. Free article!
Introduction
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The following news about Clarke was provided to TCN members in my daily camp report last Friday and discussed on TCN’s Members Forum. (TCN also shared the Ixan Henderson injury news with subscribers several days before others reported it.)
In fact, everything in this entire article was previously available to TCN members.
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Clarke out until June
Of the many Top 50 prospects the St. Louis Cardinals acquired during their very busy 2025-2026 off-season, former Red Sox farmhand Brandon Clarke is the second-highest-ranked, at no. 6 on The Cardinal Nation’s List for 2026. (Jurrangelo Cijntje is just ahead at no. 5a.)
We will not see the talented left-handed Clarke in game action until June. Prior to Minor League Depth Camp, the 22-year-old was diagnosed with an aneurism in his throwing arm that required a surgical procedure to correct. It was successful and there is no ongoing, long-term impact expected.
But Clarke’s first half-season in the Cardinals organization will be lost as a result.
Clarke’s checkered injury history
A review of Clarke’s injury record while still an amateur illustrates the inherent risk he carries and explains why he was a fifth rounder, not a first rounder, in the 2024 draft. Long before he signed with Boston, Clarke was well-traveled, and not just to see doctors.
He had Tommy John surgery in 2019 and was not drafted as a high schooler in Virginia. Clarke was originally recruited by the University of Alabama but was unable to pitch his freshman year of 2022 after surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. TOS has been career-ending for some. It is caused by compression of nerves/vessels between the collarbone and first rib, leading to arm pain, numbness, weakness and tingling.
From there, Clarke backtracked, transferring to State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota and pitched just 3 2/3 innings in 2023. Clarke missed the remainder of his first season at the junior college due to a stress fracture in his shoulder.
In 2024, his only full-ish season to date, Clarke threw 74 2/3 innings over 14 starts. Both were Manatees team highs. He logged a 4.36 ERA, fanned an impressive 13 batters per nine innings and had a walk rate of 4.2 per nine. That was enough to gain the attention of the University of South Carolina, where Clarke committed to transfer prior to the draft.
Clarke did not make his professional debut in 2024.
Though Clarke officially opened his career in April 2025 at Low-A Salem, he wasn’t there long. On April 29, he was promoted to High-A Greenville after three dominant, but short starts. In 9 2/3 innings, he fanned 17, walked just two, gave up just two hits and one run.
With Greenville, Clarke made 11 starts but was unable to stretch out, averaging a Tink Hence-like 2 2/3 innings per outing. His 43 strikeouts in 28 1/3 frames drew attention, but so did his 25 walks and 11 hit batters, the latter two for the wrong reason. As a result, Clarke yielded more runs, 20 total (of which 16 were earned), than hits allowed, 15.
Due to nagging blister problems, Clarke sat out a full month from late May to late June. After August 8, he did not pitch again and he was officially placed on the injured list a week later.
Overall, Clarke made 14 starts in 2025 between the two Class-A stops with a 4.03 ERA, likely aided by a .227 BABIP. He struck out 60 over his 38 innings pitched, but he also put 39 runners on base due to walks and hit-by-pitches. Due to his short outings, he has yet to receive his first professional win. Of further note, Clarke’s ground ball to fly ball ratio was an exceptional 2.4 to 1.
Based on his new problems, Clarke will again be unable to put in a full season’s workload. In fact, duplicating his 38 innings pitched in 2025 is probably a more realistic hope for 2026.
For more
Kyle Reis and Brian Walton discuss this and other Cardinals pitching injury news in their current podcast, “Wednesday With Walton and Reis”.
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