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.
... See More... See Less
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.
... See More... See Less
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.
