Sem Robberse

The Cardinals announced they’ve signed reliever Scott Blewett to a minor league contract. St. Louis also announced a minor league deal with Sem Robberse, whom they non-tendered last week. Both pitchers will be in big league Spring Training as non-roster invitees, though Robberse won’t pitch after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May.

Blewett, 30 in April, logged a career-high 44 1/3 big league innings this past season. The righty divided that between three clubs: the Twins, Braves and Orioles. That included two stints in Baltimore, as the O’s traded him to Atlanta in April and reacquired him two months later. Blewett combined for a 5.48 ERA across 26 appearances. He missed bats on a decent 12.7% of his pitches but was unable to convert that into many strikeouts. Blewett recorded a below-average 18% strikeout rate while walking 9.3% of opponents.

A three-pitch reliever, Blewett leaned on his 84 MPH slider almost half the time. He sits in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball and has a mid-80s splitter that he mixes in against left-handed batters. Blewett has yet to reach a year of service time but is out of minor league options, which limits teams’ flexibility if he secures a spot on the 40-man roster. He’ll battle for a middle relief spot in camp amidst an inexperienced St. Louis bullpen. IfKyle Leahy wins a rotation job, the Cards would only have three relievers on the 40-man who have one full year of service.JoJo Romero is likely to be traded this offseason, which would leave Riley O’Brien and Ryan Fernandez as their most experienced relievers.

Robberse has yet to reach the big leagues. The 24-year-old was acquired from the Blue Jays at the 2023 deadline in the Jordan Hicks trade. Robberse cracked the 40-man roster that offseason because the Cardinals didn’t want to lose him in the Rule 5 draft. He spent the ’24 season in Triple-A and was optioned back there to begin this year. Robberse underwent surgery a few weeks into the season.

The Cardinals declined to tender him a contract last week. That dropped him from the 40-man roster and sent him to free agency without exposing him to the waiver wire. Teams frequently use the non-tender deadline to clear the back of the roster, often with the hope of re-signing the player to a minor league contract. (The Redsdid the same with Carson Spiers, who is also working back from elbow surgery, this afternoon.) Robberse will aim for a second-half return with Triple-A Memphis and look to pitch his way onto the MLB radar before year’s end.

Every National League team has officially announced their non-tender decisions. It was a quiet evening in terms of subtractions, with only the Rangers parting with any marquee players. All players who were non-tendered are free agents without going on waivers. A few teams dropped pre-arbitration players from the back of the 40-man roster. It’s possible they preferred not to expose them to waivers and are hopeful of re-signing them to non-roster deals.

Here’s a full list of today’s activity in the NL, while the American League movesare available here. All projected salaries are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

• The Braves announced that right-handersAlek Manoah andCarson Ragsdale were not tendered contracts. Both had been acquired earlier in the offseason via waivers, and both are now free agents. Manoah was projected to earn $2.2MM. Ragsdale was not arb-eligible.
• The Brewers tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class,per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
• The Cardinals chose not to tender contracts to leftyJohn King, catcherYohel Pozo and rightySem Robberse, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatchreports.Jorge Alcala, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, was also non-tendered, John Denton of MLB.comadds. King and Alcala were both projected for a $2.1MM salary. The others were not arb-eligible.
• The Cubs non-tendered catcherReese McGuire,per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. He hit .226/.245/.444 through 140 plate appearances in a backup catcher role and was arb-eligible for the final time. He’d been projected to earn $1.9MM. Right-handerEli Morgan, who was projected to earn $1.1MM, was also non-tendered,according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian.
• The D-backs non-tendered left-handerTommy Henry, who’d already been designated for assignment, and right-handerTaylor Rashi. Neither was eligible for arbitration. They tendered contracts to their entire arb class.
• The Dodgers did not tender a contract to closerEvan Phillips,reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He was only under club control for one more season and projected for a $6.1MM salary but underwentTommy John surgery in June. Dodgers rightyNick Frasso, who was not arb-eligible and finished the season on the 60-day IL, was also non-tendered,per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
• The Giants non-tendered left-handerJoey Lucchesi,reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Lucchesi pitched to a solid 3.76 ERA with a below-average 18.8% strikeout rate and strong 7.3% walk rate in 38 1/3 innings and had been projected for a $2MM salary. San Francisco also non-tendered catcher Andrew Knizner, who was designated for assignment this afternoon when the Giants acquired Joey Wiemer from Miami.
• The Marlins tendered contracts to all of their eligible players,per Isaac Azout of Fish On First.
• TheMets are non-tendering right-handerMax Kranick, according toWill Sammon of The Athletic. Kranick, 28, posted a 3.65 ERA in 37 innings with the Mets this year. It was his first big league opportunity since a five-inning cameo with the Pirates back in 2022. Kranick’s season came to an abrupt end back in July due to flexor tendon repair surgery. SouthpawsJose Castillo andDanny Young were also non-tendered,Sammon adds. Young had Tommy John surgery back in May. Castillo was a waiver claim who pitched for four different teams in 2025.
• The Nationals tendered contracts to their entire roster, per a team announcement.
• ThePadresannounced that leftyOmar Cruz and rightySean Reynolds were non-tendered. Neither was arbitration-eligible. They tendered contracts to every member of their arbitration class.
• The Phillies non-tendered rightiesMichael Mercado andDaniel Robert, neither of whom was arbitration-eligible. They’re both free agents. The Phils tendered contracts to all of their arb-eligible players otherwise.
• The Pirates non-tendered outfieldersAlexander Canario andRonny Simon, as well as rightiesColin Holderman andDauri Moreta. All four were designated for assignment earlier in the week. Holderman was projected for a $1.7MM salary and Moreta for $800K. The others weren’t arb-eligible.
• The Reds announced that catcherWill Banfield and right-handersCarson Spiers andRoddery Munoz were not tendered contracts. They’re all free agents. None of the three were arbitration-eligible, but by non-tendering them rather than designating them for assignment, Cincinnati bypasses the need to place them on waivers and can try to quickly re-sign any of the bunch to minor league deals, if the Reds are so inclined.
• The Rockies non-tendered first basemanMichael Toglia, the team announced. He’d been designated for assignment earlier in the week, making today’s non-tender all but a formality.

Cardinals pitching prospectTekoah Roby underwent Tommy John surgery last week,reports Katie Woo of The Athletic. He’s expected to miss not only the remainder of the current season but also the entire 2026 season as well.

It’s a brutal blow to the team’s prospect base. Roby has ranked among the Cardinals’ most promising young arms since he was acquired two years ago in the trade sendingJordan Montgomery to the Rangers, but he’d taken a considerable step forward this season. The 23-year-old opened the season with a brilliant 10-start run in his second stint at the Double-A level, pitching 47 innings with a 2.49 ERA, a 31% strikeout rate and a 6% walk rate. That earned him his first bump to Triple-A Memphis, where he started six more times and notched a 4.02 ERA, 22.6% strikeout rate and matching 6% walk rate.

Overall, Roby has pitched 78 1/3 innings with a 3.10 ERA between the Cardinals’ top two affiliates. Woo adds that the Cardinals, as part of their player development overhaul this season, had added a two-seamer to Roby’s repertoire and made changes to the shape and velocity of both his slider and changeup. The results were impressive, but those gains are now on hold after a second straight season with elbow troubles will prompt a major surgery.

It’s been a tough season for Cardinals pitching prospects. While McGreevy has remained healthy and now pitched his way into the rotation, many of the system’s other young arms have incurred notable setbacks. In addition to Roby, pitching prospectsCooper Hjerpe andSem Robberse have both had Tommy John surgery this year. Hjerpehad his surgery in mid-April, and Robberse followedabout a month later. Right-handerTink Hence has missed most of the season due to a rib cage sprain. LeftyQuinn Mathews missed more than a month due to shoulder discomfort and has walked a staggering 21.3% of his opponents in 13 Triple-A starts when healthy.

The complications for the Cardinals extend beyond the obvious and straightforward setbacks in the development of several key young arms. Both Roby and Robberse are on the 40-man roster already. Hjerpe will need to be added this winter or else be left unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft (where there’s plenty of precedent for a team selecting a pitcher who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery).

There’s no 60-day IL in the offseason, so if the Cardinals indeed add Hjerpe to the 40-man in November, they’ll effectively be navigating the offseason with only 37 of their 40-man roster spots available. Each of Roby, Robberse and Hjerpe would be taking up a spot. And, since none of them has made his big league debut yet, those dead roster spots would even carry over into the 2026 season, unless the Cardinals select any of the three to the major league roster and place them on the 60-day injured list. Doing so would start any of the trio’s service clock early and grant them major league service time and salary while rehabbing.

The Cardinals placed pitching prospectSem Robberse on the full-season injured list in the minor leagues today. The club announced to reporters, includingJeff Jones of theBelleville News-Democrat, that the righty has undergone Tommy John surgery. He’ll miss the remainder of this season and part of 2026 as well.

Robberse, now 23, was one of two young pitchers the Cardinals acquired from the Blue Jays inthe 2023 deadline deal which sentJordan Hicks to Toronto. Robberse was set to be eligible in the Rule 5 draft a few months later, but the Cards protected him by adding him to their 40-man roster that November.

The young Netherlands-born righty has generally been a serviceable starter in the minors. From 2021 to 2024, he tossed 414 1/3 innings, allowing 4.04 earned runs per nine. His 22.5% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate in that span were both fairly average numbers. He also got ground balls on close to half of the balls in play he allowed.

This year, he got out to a rough start, posting a 7.36 ERA over four Triple-A outings. However, that seems to have been mostly bad luck. His .447 batting average on balls in play and 61.6% strand rate in that small sample were both to the unfortunate side. Meanwhile, his 24.7% strikeout rate and 46.8% ground ball rate were both strong numbers. His 10.4% walk rate was on the high side but not egregiously so.

Regardless, Robberse is not going to get a chance to correct those numbers, an unfortunate blow for him and the team. It’s not a huge deal in the short term. The St. Louis rotation is so healthy right now thatSteven Matz has been bumped to the bullpen multiple times, despite strong results.Michael McGreevy is stuck in Triple-A even though he’s putting up good numbers there.

Still, depth can disappear fast and this is the second hit the Cards have taken in that department.Cooper Hjerpe, one of the club’s top pitching prospects, required his own Tommy John surgery last month.

In the longer term, this will cloud Robberse’s path to making it to the majors. The Cards are slated to lose Matz,Miles Mikolas andErick Fedde to free agency this winter. That would leave them with a projected 2026 rotation ofSonny Gray,Andre Pallante andMatthew Liberatore, with two potential rotation spots open.

Instead of competing for a role in the starting mix, Robberse will be rehabbing from his surgery. He’s currently in his second of three option years. That means 2026 could be his final option year, if he sticks on the 40-man roster through the upcoming offseason. He probably won’t be fully healthy until midway through that 2026 season. The Cards could call him up and put him on the major league 60-day IL at some point, if they so choose. Doing so would open a 40-man roster spot but it would also involve Robberse earning major league pay and service time.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves in advance of today’s 40-man roster deadline.  Right-handersAdam Kloffenstein andSem Robberse and catcherPedro Pages had their contracts selected, while left-handerConnor Thomas was designated for assignment.  (Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatchreported earlier today that Pages’ contract was going to be selected.)  Left-handerPacky Naughton was outrighted to Triple-A, and St. Louis officially confirmed the previously-reported news thatWilking Rodriguezelected free agency after the right-hander had also been outrighted to Triple-A.

It was essentially a set of chalk picks for the Cards in protecting three of the four Rule 5-eligible prospects on theirMLB Pipeline top 30 list, with right-handerIan Bedell the only eligible player now available to rival clubs in December’s R5 Draft.  Bedell might be one of the more interesting names to watch heading into the Rule 5, but the Cardinals felt Kloffenstein, Robberse, and Pages were more worthy of 40-man roster spots.

Kloffenstein and Robberse only joined the organization at the trade deadline, acquired from the Blue Jays in theJordan Hicks trade.  Both pitchers made their Triple-A debuts after coming to the Cardinals, and they’ll likely start 2024 at Triple-A as well.  Since St. Louis is aiming to addmultiple new starting pitchers this winter, Robberse and Kloffenstein will be competing with the Cards’ other young arms to see who might be part of the first wave of depth starters.  It also isn’t out of the question that either could be on the move if the Cardinals pursued some experienced pitching on the trade market.

Pages was a sixth-round pick for the Cardinals in the 2019 draft, and he hit .267/.362/.443 with 16 home runs over 497 plate appearances with Double-A Springfield last season.  Speaking of trade depth, the Cards might also look to the catcher position, as they now have four backstops (Willson Contreras,Ivan Herrera,Andrew Knizner, and Pages) on the 40-man roster.

Thomas was a 40-man selection almost exactly a year ago, as St. Louis looked to protect the outfielder from the 2022 Rule 5 Draft.  The southpaw was coming off a 5.47 ERA in 135 Triple-A innings in 2022, but couldn’t make much headway last year, delivering a 5.53 ERA, 15.7% strikeout rate, and 7.0% walk rate in 94 1/3 frames for Memphis.  Thomas is a grounder specialist who has faced some heavy BABIP misfortune during his minor league career, but the Cardinals have seen enough to potentially move on from the 25-year-old.

Naughton has a 4.98 ERA over 59 2/3 Major League innings since the start of the 2021 season, with his first two big league campaigns spent shuttling back and forth from Triple-A with the Angels and Cardinals.  His 2023 campaign was essentially lost to injury, as Naughton underwent flexor tendon surgery in late June and figures to miss probably the first half of the 2024 season, based on past timelines for similar procedures.  Naughton will continue rehabbing and potentially also surface for at least some bullpen work at some point next year.

The Blue Jays landed one of the most sought-after bullpen arms on the trade market Sunday, announcing the acquisition of rightyJordan Hicks from the Cardinals in exchange for Double-A right-handersSem Robberse andAdam Kloffenstein. In a corresponding roster move, Toronto designated rightyMitch White for assignment. Hicks had previously been reported to bediscussing an extension with the Cardinals ahead of the trade deadline on August 1, though those discussionsseemingly stalled out earlier in the week.

Hicks, 26, was a third-round pick in the 2015 draft by the Cardinals. He made his big league debut back in 2018 and threw 77 2/3 innings in his first big league season, with a 3.59 ERA and 3.74 FIP. While he generated an impressive 60.7% groundball rate in his rookie campaign, he posted a lackluster 20.6% strikeout rate and struggled badly with his control to the point of walking 13.3% of batters faced. Early on in his sophomore 2019 season, Hicks required Tommy John surgery. That surgery began a series of injuries and setbacks that would limit him to just 38 2/3 innings of work from 2019-21.

Finally fully healthy in 2022, the Cardinals decided to try using Hicks as a member of the rotation. That experiment did not go well, as Hicks posted a 5.84 ERA and 5.54 FIP in 24 2/3 innings of work across seven starts while walking a whopping 16% of batters faced over that stretch. While he pitched a bit better upon returning to the bullpen, he nonetheless finished the 2022 campaign with 4.84 ERA and 13.3% walk rate in 61 1/3 innings of work.

The 2023 campaign started off difficultly for Hicks once again, as he yielded a whopping nine runs (eight earned) in just 5 2/3 innings of work in his first seven appearances of the year. Since then, however, he’s settled in as one of the most dominant relievers in baseball over the past few months. Since April 18, Hicks sports a 2.25 ERA and a sterling 1.92 FIP in 36 innings of work. He’s cut his walk rate to 10.4% in that time, a figure that, while somewhat elevated, is more than made up for by a phenomenal 34.4% strikeout rate. Hicks also sports a characteristically excellent 58.3% groundball rate this season, a figure that has led him to allow just two home runs all season, and none since he got his season back on track in mid-April.

Hicks’s dominant arm makes him a perfect candidate for Toronto’s bullpen, as the Blue Jayslost closerJordan Romano to the 15-day injured list earlier this weekend thanks to lower back inflammation. While it’s possible Romano will return fairly quickly after the minimum 15-day stint, he’s been plagued by the issue since it caused him to depart the All Star game earlier this month. Still, it would hardly be a surprise to see the Blue Jays take additional time to ensure their closer is fully healthy upon his return given both the nagging nature of the issue and the importance of Romano, who leads the AL with 28 saves this season and sports a 2.79 ERA in 42 innings this season, to the club’s success.

In return for Hicks’s services, the Blue Jays are paying a hefty prospect toll. Robberse appears to be the headliner in the deal as the club’s seventh-best prospect according toMLB Pipeline and their sixth-best prospect according toFangraphs. Originally signed out of the Netherlands back in 2019, the 21-year-old hurler sports a 92-94 mph fastball, quality secondary offerings in both a changeup and a slider, and plus command. In 113 1/3 innings of work at the Double-A level, Robberse owns a 3.97 ERA and a strikeout rate of 22%.

Kloffenstein, meanwhile, goes unranked on both Pipeline’s and Fangraphs’s lists. Fangraphs describes Kloffenstein as a pitcher with a four-pitch mix highlighted by a sinker and a slider, though it ultimately pegs him as more of an innings-eating, depth starter type. That evaluation, however, is from prior to the 2023 campaign, where Kloffenstein has impressed to this point. Toronto’s third-round pick in the 2018 draft has shoved across 89 innings of work at Double-A this season to the tune of a 3.24 ERA with a strikeout rate of 27.6%, a figure well above his career rate of 23.5% entering the 2023 campaign.

Both Kloffenstein and Robberse clearly fit the mold of return the Cardinals have reportedly been looking for in dangling their rental arms this summer: controllable, upper-level starting pitching prospects. Both Robberse and Kloffenstein project as starters going forward and have over 100 innings of experience at Double-A, withJeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat noting that both hurlers are set to be promoted to Triple-A by the Cardinals organization. Given that promotion, it seems reasonable to assume both pitchers will be on the big league radar for sometime in 2024, barring injury or ineffectiveness changing the timeline.

The deal also spells the end of White’s time in Toronto. A second-round selection by the Dodgers in the 2016 draft, White impressed with a 3.44 ERA and 3.78 FIp in 49 2/3 innings of work across his first two seasons in the majors. He continued his success in a Dodgers uniform in 2022 with a 3.70 ERA and 3.95 FIP in 56 innings of work, but the club dealt White to Toronto at the trade deadline last season. Since joining the Blue Jays, White has struggled mightily, with a 7.60 ERA in 55 2/3 innings of work. While he posted a 4.03 FIP that far outstrips his results as a member of the Jays, his walk rate has ticked up to 11.7% this season, a level unlikely to be sustainable given his mediocre 21.7% strikeout rate. Going forward, Toronto will have one week to either waive or release White, assuming he himself isn’t traded before the deadline on August 1.

Craig Mish of the Miami Heraldfirst reported that Hicks had been traded to Toronto. FanSided’s Robert Murrayreported that Kloffenstein was part of the return. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet firstreported Robberse’s inclusion in the deal.

Major League Baseballannounced rosters for the 2023 Futures Game this evening. The contest — a seven-inning exhibition between some of the sport’s most talented minor leaguers — kicks off All-Star festivities in Seattle on Saturday, July 8.

AsJonathan Mayo of MLB.com notes, 28 of the 50 players on the roster are included on MLB Pipeline’s recentTop 100 prospects list. Six of Pipeline’s top ten will participate. The full rosters (MLB Pipeline prospect rank included, if applicable):

American League

• Clayton Beeter, Yankees RHP (AAA)
• Lawrence Butler, A’s OF (AA)
• Junior Caminero, Rays INF (AA), #17 prospect
• Jonathan Cannon, White Sox RHP (High-A)
• Joey Cantillo, Guardians LHP (AAA)
• Jonatan Clase, Mariners OF (AA)
• Shane Drohan, Red Sox LHP (AAA)
• David Festa, Twins RHP (AA)
• Harry Ford, Mariners C (High-A), #29 prospect
• Drew Gilbert, Astros OF (AA), #76 prospect
• Jackson Holliday, Orioles INF (High-A), #1 prospect
• Spencer Jones, Yankees OF (High-A)
• Colt Keith, Tigers INF (AA), #43 prospect
• Heston Kjerstad, Orioles OF (AAA), #40 prospect
• Will Klein, Royals RHP (AAA)
• Justyn-Henry Malloy, Tigers INF (AAA)
• Kyle Manzardo, Rays INF (AAA), #42 prospect
• Marcelo Mayer, Red Sox INF (AA), #5 prospect
• Kyren Paris, Angels INF (AA)
• Edgar Quero, Angels C (AA), #72 prospect
• Sem Robberse, Blue Jays RHP (AA)
• Tyler Soderstrom, A’s C (AAA), #37 prospect
• Owen White, Rangers RHP (AAA), #48 prospect
• Nick Yorke, Red Sox INF (AA), #91 prospect
• Yosver Zulueta, Blue Jays RHP (AAA)

National League

• Mick Abel, Phillies RHP (AA), #46 prospect
• Ryan Bliss, Diamondbacks INF (AA)
• Jackson Chourio, Brewers OF (AA), #3 prospect
• Justin Crawford, Phillies OF (Low-A), #90 prospect
• Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs OF (AA), #10 prospect
• Yanquiel Fernandez, Rockies OF (AA), #97 prospect
• Kyle Harrison, Giants LHP (AAA), #14 prospect
• Tink Hence, Cardinals RHP (High-A), #66 prospect
• Brady House, Nationals INF (High-A), #75 prospect
• Jordan Lawlar, Diamondbacks INF (AA), #7 prospect
• Noelvi Marte, Reds INF (AA), #19 prospect
• J.P. Massey, Pirates RHP (High-A)
• Jackson Merrill, Padres INF (High-A), #12 prospect
• Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers RHP (High-A), #93 prospect
• Patrick Monteverde, Marlins LHP (AA)
• B.J. Murray, Cubs INF (AA)
• Nasim Nunez, Marlins INF (AA)
• Jeferson Quero, Brewers C (AA), #79 prospect
• Endy Rodriguez, Pirates INF/C (AAA), #39 prospect
• Dalton Rushing, Dodgers C (High-A), #51 prospect
• Victor Scott II, Cardinals OF (High-A)
• Spencer Shwellenbach, Braves RHP (Low-A)
• Mike Vasil, Mets RHP (AAA)
• Carson Whisenhunt, Giants LHP (AA)
• James Wood, Nationals OF (AA), #6 prospect