Cardinals Rumors: Evaluating 5 prospects acquired St. Louis fire sale

What did the Cardinals receive from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for RHP Jordan Hicks?

RHP Sem Robberse

Weeks after playing for the American League in the Futures Game, Robberse was part of a trade Sunday bringing him to the St. Louis Cardinals. He is now the No. 6 prospect in the organization.

Robberse came to the Blue Jays from the Netherlands in 2019.

He’s started in 18 games for the Blue Jays AA affiliate accumulating a 3-5 record and will be promoted to the Cardinals AAA Memphis affiliate.  This season has a 4.06 ERA over 88.2 innings, striking out 86 batters thus far.

He hopes to increase his strikeout rate and quickly join the Cardinals rotation.

RHP Adam Kloffenstein

Kloffenstein, 22, was placed as the 23rd-ranked prospect in the Cardinals organization shortly after the trade became official. Kloffenstein was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2018, in the third round with the 88th pick.

The 6-5 righty, Kloffenstein, runs a low-90s sinker in on righties allowing him to eliminate damage and generate a ground-ball rate of 50 percent. The youngster has a four-seam fastball that reaches 96 mph. He has a sweeping pitch that ranges in the mid-80s and a cutter pitch that can range in the  upper-80s. Mixing the pitches with a two-seam fastball, he can increase his strikeouts which the Cardinals want to add.

Kloffenstein will join the Cardinals AAA affiliate in Memphis. At the Blue Jays AA affiliate, Kloffenstein has a 5-5 record with an ERA of 3.24 over 17 games started. In 89 innings pitched, he has thrown 105 strikeouts.

While he has some pitchers ahead of him in the prospects rankings, he is slated to make his major league debut in 2024. With the rotation in flux, seeing how Kloffenstein develops over the next few weeks and months will be fun.