The Cardinals acquired Clarke and Richard Fitts from the Red Sox on Tuesday in exchange for Sonny Gray and cash considerations, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Clarke has an electric arm with a big fastball and wipeout slider that helped him strike out 60 over 38 innings between Single-A Salem and High-A Greenville this season. However, he also walked 27 batters and missed a chunk of time with blister issues. The 22-year-old is a high-upside, high-risk addition to the St. Louis farm system.
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Red Sox's Brandon Clarke: Likely done for season with blister
Rotowire
Clarke is expected to miss the remainder of the season after High-A Greenville placed him on its 7-day injured list Aug. 15 due to a recurrence of blisters on his pitching hand, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.
Clarke previously missed about a month of action from late May through late June due to a blister caused by a hangnail, and the issue appears to have cropped up again during his most recent outing with Greenville on Aug. 8. Though his season will end on a disappointing note, the 22-year-old lefty still enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2025 while accruing a 4.03 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 60:27 K:BB in 38 innings over 14 outings between Greenville and Single-A Salem.
Red Sox's Brandon Clarke: Back in action for Greenville
Rotowire
Clarke (finger) returned to the Greenville rotation in Thursday's 2-1 win over Rome, tossing two innings and striking out three while allowing an earned run on zero hits and two walks.
Though he never landed on the injured list, Clarke went more than a month between starts for Greenville while he recovered from a blister on his pitching hand. Greenville appeared to manage the 22-year-old lefty's workload in his return, as he tossed just 37 pitches before being removed from the game. Clarke began the season with little fanfare, but he's quickly ascended up prospect lists after compiling a 2.08 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and 41:11 K:BB in 26 innings through his eight starts between Greenville and Single-A Salem.
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Red Sox's Brandon Clarke: Out with blister
Rotowire
Clarke has not pitched for High-A Greenville since May 24 due to a blister caused by a hangnail issue, SoxProspects.com reports.
Clarke was one of the top breakout prospects of the first two months, as the 2024 fifth-round pick logged a 1.88 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 38:9 K:BB in 24 innings across Single-A and High-A. He has yet to throw more than 4.2 innings in a pro start but has demonstrated elite stuff from the left side. Clarke has not been placed on the injured list despite being sidelined for over three weeks.
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