ST. LOUIS, Mo., May 11, 2026 – The St. Louis Cardinals today announced their selections for Minor League Pitcher and co-Player of the Month for April, with Peoria Chiefs (A+) starting pitcher Yhoiker Fajardo (JOY-ker fah-HARR-doh), Memphis Redbirds (AAA) 3B/1B Blaze Jordan, and Palm Beach Cardinals (A) 1B/3B Jack Gurevitch (GURR-vitch) receiving the honors.
Jordan, 23, slashed .276/.323/.517 with six doubles, five home runs, and 13 RBI across 22 games with Triple-A Memphis. He ranked top three among all Cardinals minor league batters in hits (2nd, 24) total bases (2nd, 45), home runs (T3rd) and extra-base hits (T3rd, 11) for the month. He registered nine multi-hit games, including his fourth career multi-homer game on April 2 vs. Norfolk, and collected his third career walk-off RBI with a game-ending hit by pitch on April 1.
“Blaze has really taken a step forward this season by simplifying his approach and committing to the middle of the field, and we are seeing that translate directly into his performance,” said Cardinals Director of Player Development Larry Day. “He’s staying in the zone longer, making better swing decisions, and the contact quality has been outstanding. What’s been most impressive is how his more compact, controlled swing has unlocked his power naturally. On top of that, he’s a tremendous teammate and person, so it’s great to see the performance results match the work that he and hitting coach Howie Clark put in every day.”
Acquired during last July’s trade deadline from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for LHP Steven Matz, the 6’0”, right-handed batter was originally drafted by Boston in the 3rd round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of DeSoto Central High School in the Memphis suburb of Southaven, Mississippi. He finished 4th in all of Minor League Baseball last season with 99 RBI and currently leads all Cardinals minor leaguers with 39 hits and ranks 2nd with 18 extra-base hits.
Gurevitch, 22, slashed .286/.396/.545 with eight doubles, four home runs, and 20 RBI across 20 games with Single-A Palm Beach. He ranked top three among all qualified Cardinals minor league batters in RBI (1st), extra-base hits (2nd, 12), batting average, slugging percentage (3rd), OPS (3rd, .941), and total bases (T3rd, 42). He reached safely in 18 of 20 games played and collected a career-high five RBI as part of a two extra-base hit day on April 21 at St. Lucie.
“Jack has put together an outstanding month and what’s been most impressive is the quality of his contact,” said Day. “He’s done a great job staying through the baseball and driving it with intent to all fields. With the guidance and support of hitting coach Ben Brooks, Jack has been working on refining his load and maintaining his posture, which has allowed him to get to better angles and produce more consistently, from a damage standpoint. He’s been very intentional in his daily work, and it’s translating directly into game performance.”
The 5’11”, left-handed batter entered the season rated as the No. 26 prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America after being taken with the 89th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of the University of San Diego. The Pacific Palisades, Calif. native currently leads all Cardinals minor leaguers with 28 RBI on the season and ranks 3rd with 16 extra-base hits.
Fajardo posted a 1-0 record with a 1.69 ERA over 16.0 innings with 20 strikeouts and a 1.25 WHIP across his first four appearances (two starts) of the season. At 19.5 years old, the right-hander was the second-youngest pitcher (seventh-youngest player overall) to open the season at the High-A level. Among Cardinals minor league hurlers with at least 15.0 innings pitched, Fajardo ranked 3rd in ERA, 6th in WHIP, and 2nd in SO/BB ratio (10.00). His best outing came on April 19 when he allowed just three baserunners over five shutout innings of relief to earn his first High-A win at Wisconsin.
“Yhoiker has made tremendous strides this season, and you’re seeing it translate directly into performance,” stated Day. “At Peoria, he has generated a 33% strikeout rate with a walk rate below 3%, which speaks to both the quality of his stuff and his ability to consistently attack the strike zone. With the guidance of pitching coach Michael Oh, Yhoiker has worked hard to improve his strike throwing, refine the shape of his four-seam fastball, and expand his arsenal through the development of a curveball. As he continues to refine his execution, we’re encouraged by both the progress he has made and the direction he’s heading.”
Acquired from the Boston Red Sox last December along with RHP Hunter Dobbins and RHP Blake Aita in exchange for 1B Willson Contreras, the Venezuelan native was originally signed by the Chicago White Sox as an international free agent in February 2024. Standing at 6’2”, Fajardo entered the season ranked as the No. 12 prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America following his 2025 season in which he had a 2.25 ERA across 72.0 innings (19 appearances) between Single-A Salem and the FCL Red Sox.
— STL —
The trades from the last year are really starting to look good, with 2 of these 3 coming in trades since last season’s deadline.
Jordan could force his way onto the MLB roster, along with Jimmy Crooks, with their hot starts. We’re seeing Dobbins on the Major League roster already.
Jurrangelo Cijntje and Tai Peete have been playing very well at Springfield and Peoria respectively; both were acquired for Brendan Donovan.
The biggest disappointments from the trades have been Richard Fitts (season ending lat surgery), Brandon Clarke (aneurysm surgery, out until mid-season), and Colton Ledbetter (low contact rate and high strike out rates). These aren’t serious concerns at this point though; Ledbetter is the most worrisome, but he also isn’t a top prospect.
Jordan ranked #26 on the Nyrdcast Pre-Season Prospect Rankings, Gurevitch was at #41, and Fajardo came in at #23.
Full Trades:
Helsley, Matz, and Maton all left their teams as free agents after last season. Gray and Donovan have both spent time on the IL for their new teams (Donovan came off it last week). Contreras is having a really good season so far for an underperforming Red Sox team. Arenado is playing as well as one could have expected; he’s not hitting for much average and limited power, but the Cardinals are a better team without him. Granillo has struggled in both the Majors and Triple A.
Based off the early results, the Cardinals are looking pretty good in all of these deals. We won’t know for sure for a couple of seasons though.
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