Lacking a second round pick after signing Sonny Gray, the Cardinals targeted exclusively college players (nineteenth rounder Brendan Lawson, a high schooler, was never expected to sign) and in their typical fashion went for advanced college players at that. The pitchers mostly exhibited strong starter traits with deep arsenals and a history of filling up the zone, while hitters showed both contact and power ability with sneaky strong underlying metrics and plate discipline. I also found it interesting that each of their first four picks were below six feet tall and ultimately half of all players they signed had heights beginning with a five, including a pair at 5'8" in fourth rounder Ryan Campos and tenth rounder Bryce Madron. Unlike many teams, St. Louis more or less took the slot values at face value, never going more than $171,000 above slot value or more than $164,500 below.
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Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. "2-50" would indicate that a player was drafted in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-7: 3B JJ Wetherholt, West Virginia {video}
Slot value: $6.82 million. Signing bonus: $6.9 million ($76,300 above slot value).
My rank: #3. MLB Pipeline: #4. Baseball America: #3.
Right off the bat, this looks like a steal for the Cardinals because there is no reason JJ Wetherholt should have been available at pick #7, and for just about slot value to boot. He burst into the national conversation with a massive sophomore season in which he hit .449/.517/.787 (!) in 55 games, then followed it up by hitting .321/.406/.571 against elite pitching in the Cape Cod League and struck out just once in 32 plate appearances. He entered the 2024 season firmly in the conversation for the first overall pick as a virtual consensus top-three prospect in the class. Unfortunately he made it just four games before his hamstring flared back up and knocked him out for two months, ultimately limiting him to 36 games on the season. Still, while he didn't match his 2023 numbers, he hit well enough upon his return (despite still being hobbled by the nagging hamstring) to play himself back up to #3 on my board. This dude is a straight up ballplayer. Listed at 5'10", 190 pounds with merely above average athleticism, he might not catch your eye at first, at least not until you watch him play. Wetherholt is an elite contact hitter that combines an outright refusal to chase with plus pure bat to ball skills, so he never strikes out – just 9% over the last two seasons, an elite rate. In order to make that kind of contact, most hitters have to sacrifice power and get slappy, but not Wetherholt. There's real juice in the bat as well, with above average raw power that he taps every bit of in games. The Pittsburgh-area native just drops his hands to the ball and wallops it to all fields, with elite feel for the barrel helping him square it up virtually every time. His pitch recognition is also a major factor in his hitting ability, as he does damage against both velocity and offspeed. Wetherholt is also an above average runner with excellent instincts on the basepaths, helping him play more like a plus runner when his hamstring is healthy. He's not quite explosive enough to play shortstop and most project him at second base, where his average arm fits better, though the Cardinals interestingly drafted him as a third baseman. The glovework is sound and will play anywhere on the infield. To top it off, Wetherholt is renowned for his work ethic, leaving evaluators more than confident he'll maximize his skills in pro ball. The whole package reminds me a lot of peak Daniel Murphy with more speed – that's to say 20-25 home runs per season with high on-base percentages and plenty of stolen bases. He took well to minor league pitching, slashing .295/.405/.400 with a pair of home runs and a 15/16 strikeout to walk ratio over 29 games at Low A Palm Beach.
3-80: RHP Brian Holiday, Oklahoma State {video}
Slot value: $964,500. Signing bonus: $800,000 ($164,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #223. Baseball America: #156.
This is a classic Cardinals pick. A Tampa native, Brian Holiday began his career at Florida Southwestern State JC, transferred to Central Florida JC as a sophomore, then wound up across the country at Oklahoma State for his junior season. He only got one season in Stillwater, but in it he was one of the best pitchers in the Big 12 and enters pro ball as one of the most advanced 21 year olds in the class. The stuff is pretty ordinary all around, beginning with a low 90's fastball that tops out around 95 with above average riding life from a lower release point. He leans heavily on an above average slider with a nice combination of depth and bite, while he shows a get me over curveball and an average changeup as well. Everything plays up, though, because of his pitchability. Holiday has above average command but beyond that, he fearlessly attacks the zone with all of his pitches and is comfortable throwing anything in any count. He consistently keeps hitters off balance and his feel for his slider is particularly impressive, executing it consistently in and out to rack up the strikeouts. Holiday is consistently working ahead in the count where he can be in control, making for a true starting pitcher profile. The 5'11" righty lacks projection but he has been plenty durable, finishing second in Division I with 113 innings pitched and pitching into the ninth inning in each of his last three starts. Holiday should move quickly and become a back-end starter for the Cardinals in the near future.
4-109: C Ryan Campos, Arizona State {video}
Slot value: $669,300. Signing bonus: $669,300.
My rank: #175. MLB Pipeline: #176. Baseball America: #181.
In Ryan Campos, the Cardinals might have just picked up the most consistent hitter in the Pac-12 over the last three seasons. He never hit below .357 in any season and never posted an on-base percentage below .430, finishing at a career .369/.464/.554 in 147 games. Campos is undersized at just a stocky 5'8", but he packs plenty of punch and grades out very well metrically. His most impressive attribute is his elite bat to ball ability, especially in the zone where he virtually never whiffs. He's a pretty patient hitter too, so it's extremely difficult to get the ball by him when he forces you into the zone and he never strikes out. Despite his diminutive stature, Campos shows average power from a compact left handed swing as he finds the barrel virtually every time. That mostly translates into doubles power for now, with his 25 tying him for seventh in college baseball, though I don't necessarily see him growing into more than 10-15 homer power in the majors. It was only six games, but he struggled in his brief time on the Cape by slashing .136/.240/.136 and striking out a third of the time. That dents the offensive numbers he put up in Tempe, which is a very hitter-friendly environment, but there's no reason to think the Phoenix-area native won't continue to hit in pro ball. While he's built like an old school catcher, he's a bit choppy behind the plate and will need to work hard to become a playable major league backstop. There's not a ton of arm either, but the Cardinals clearly believe in his ability to stay a catcher. The bat looks a lot better there, as he'll likely find himself as more of a tweener type if he's forced to move to left field. His Arizona State bat showed up in his first taste of minor league ball, slashing .319/.396/.407 with an even 13/13 strikeout to walk ratio over 26 games for Low A Palm Beach.
5-142: LHP Braden Davis, Oklahoma {video}
Slot value: $485,700. Signing bonus: $485,700.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #345.
Returning to the Sooner State for another arm, the Cardinals went to Norman instead this time for Braden Davis. He spent his first two seasons at Sam Houston State, where he served as a lockdown reliever with a 2.47 ERA and a 30.1% strikeout rate across 35 appearances. Transferring to Oklahoma in 2024, he jumped into the rotation and performed admirably, headlining his season with a complete game shutout of TCU to open the Big 12 Tournament. Davis sits in the low 90's with his fastball and tops out at 95, playing up with riding and running life from a fairly low slot. It's almost a mirror image of Brian Holiday's fastball from the left side, except his runs just a bit more. He gets good results from a solid slider and shows a get-me-over curveball, but his best pitch is a plus changeup with massive fading action. He throws the changeup liberally and will continue to lean heavily on it in pro ball. Davis' command is fringy and he ran an ugly 17.1% walk rate on the Cape over the summer (but otherwise shined with a 31.0% strikeout rate), but he kept it around the zone effectively in Norman where he kept the walk rate to a reasonable 10.2%. The DFW native has a shot to continue starting in pro ball due to his deep arsenal and durable, if a bit undersized, 5'11" frame, but he'll have to hold his command together in order to do so. In the bullpen, his fastball could tick up a bit and he could pitch off that big changeup, providing a unique lefty weapon who can get hitters out from both sides of the plate.
6-171: 1B Josh Kross, Cincinnati {video}
Slot value: $369,100. Signing bonus: $369,100.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
St. Louis went off the beaten path a little bit for Josh Kross. Like Brian Holiday, he has bounced around quite a bit. He started off at Toledo but didn't play, so he transferred to Eastern Michigan and put up a massive 2023 season to earn MAC Freshman of the Year honors. He transferred once more to Cincinnati in 2024, where he had another strong season and pushed himself into the sixth round. He's actually the first Cardinals draftee this year to crack six feet tall, clocking in at 6'2" and packed with strength. The switch hitter has above average raw power that he taps extremely consistently in games, having blasted 34 home runs over the past two seasons, with excellent ability to turn on the ball and elevate it to the pull side. The Cleveland-area product makes pretty good contact, too, helping keep his strikeout rate to a reasonable 15.1% despite his pull-oriented approach. It's actually a really nice all-around offensive profile, and he makes up for a slightly lower walk rate by getting hit by a ton of pitches, his 26 in 2024 good for ninth in Division I. Kross has a chance to hit for average and power at the major league level and proved himself with wood bats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League this summer before the draft. That's important because he'll be limited to first base, where pressure will be all on his bat. He did catch some in college but it appears the Cardinals are not going to go that route. In his pro debut, he slashed .216/.383/.311 with a 10/15 strikeout to walk ratio over 23 games at Low A Palm Beach.
7-201: RHP Andrew Dutkanych, Vanderbilt {video}
Slot value: $288,700. Signing bonus: $300,000 ($11,300 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #286.
Talk about buying low. Andrew Dutkanych was a superstar high school prospect who earned first round buzz at points during his senior season, then reached campus at Vanderbilt as one of the most hyped incoming freshmen in the country. Unfortunately a leg injury derailed that freshman season and he tossed just 6.1 innings, then made it only five appearances into 2024 before he went down with Tommy John surgery. Born one day before the cutoff, he was eligible for the 2024 draft despite turning 21 a few weeks later, and now he's a Cardinal after just seventeen innings for the Commodores. The stuff is still big. His fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and can hit 97 with big time riding life, making for a plus pitch at its best. He rips off a nasty, tight slider that also looked plus in high school, then has a loopier curveball and a fringy changeup as well that he didn't use as much at Vanderbilt. His command has been up and down dating back to his high school days, and he walked 15 of the 75 hitters he faced (20%) in two years in college, though I'll chalk the college performance to not being healthy consistently. The Duke is a confident pitcher who attacks hitters with conviction, which in high school helped his fringy command play up and should serve him well as he gets back into the swing of things once healthy in 2025. If all it takes is consistent time on the mound for Dutkanych to get back to his high school form, he has a chance to make this an absolute steal for St. Louis. The Indianapolis-area native, if he puts it back together, could have a full arsenal headlined by two plus pitches, a big 6'3" frame, and the attitude to go right after hitters. If either his health or his command force him to the bullpen, he could still be effective leaning on that fastball and slider. Dutkanych has been praised back to his high school days for his mental acumen as a strong student with high baseball IQ and should soak in knowledge in the Cardinals' system.
8-231: LHP Jack Findlay, Notre Dame {video}
Slot value: $229,000. Signing bonus: $400,000 ($171,000 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #315.
Jack Findlay gives St. Louis a second consecutive pick coming off Tommy John surgery. He was one of the top freshmen in the ACC in 2022, when he put up a 2.17 ERA and a 54/16 strikeout to walk ratio over 49.2 innings, then was off to a hot start in 2023 before the surgery cut him down in April, knocking him out for 2024 as well. The stuff isn't overwhelming for Findlay, with a fastball that sits around 90 and tops out at 94 with some cutting action. He leans heavily on his slider, which shows big sweep and good depth across the plate, while he also shows a truer curveball. The 6'3" lefty makes everything play up because he has above average command and hides the ball well, keeping hitters off balance and making lots of weak contact. Tommy John can happen to anybody, but he otherwise has a durable frame and a repeatable, athletic delivery that will lend itself well to starting. He should be fully ready to go for 2025 right from the start and has a chance to move quickly from there. Findlay could use to add a tick of power to both his fastball and his offspeed stuff, which could add more ceiling to an arm that currently projects in the back of the rotation.
12-351: OF Ian Petrutz, Alabama {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $250,000 ($100,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Ian Petrutz spent two years at Maryland, where he was one of the better hitters in the Big Ten and leveraged his hitting ability to transfer to Alabama alongside his head coach. The power evaporated this year, his slugging percentage dropping from .555 over two years in College Park to .467 in Tuscaloosa, but the hit tool showed up and it was overall a solid transition to SEC pitching. Petrutz is solidly built and shows above average raw power from the left side, though his ability to tap it in games has come and gone. The Philadelphia-area product can get pull heavy, but his swing can also get rigid and he can slash at the ball. That doesn't stop him from hitting it hard, but it does make it difficult to lift the ball at times and get it over outfielders' heads. He's a very disciplined hitter that walked at a 15.3% clip at Maryland and 10.8% of the time at Alabama, showing strong bat to ball skills to boot on top of his selective approach. If he can find a way to incorporate more loft into his left handed swing, he could be a really complete hitter. That's really important, because his fringy defensive tools will limit him to left field and will put a ton of pressure on the bat. So everything here hinges on the swing change. The power didn't show up in his pro debut, but he hit everything thrown at him and slashed .344/.482/.433 with a 10/17 strikeout to walk ratio over 28 games for Low A Palm Beach.
18-531: 2B Christian Martin, Virginia Tech {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $150,000.
My rank: #220. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #417.
Christian Martin brings the Cardinals a scrappy, high contact infielder. He has been an on-base machine in his three years in Blacksburg, with a career .448 on-base percentage over 130 games with tremendous consistency. Martin is a patient hitter that draws a ton of walks, forcing pitchers to come into the zone against him. Undersized at 5'10", 185 pounds, he'll see more pitchers do that, so he'll have plenty to hit in the minors. The bat to ball is more average, though combined with the strong approach he controls his at bats well and doesn't strike out too much. The power is fringy, but his quick, whippy right handed swing can put the ball out to the pull side and he doesn't lack punch entirely. He shows a strong glove at second base as well, where his springy actions and sound glovework could make him an above average defender. While he fits best at the keystone going forward, he does have enough arm to make shortstop or third base work in spot starts, helping aid his utility infielder projection. That would represent Martin's ceiling, as he lacks a carrying tool to get him into the lineup every day at the big league level. He's a high baseball IQ type with the chance to hit 5-10 home runs per season with solid on-base percentages. Greg Garcia, anybody? He got on base but otherwise didn't hit much in his pro debut, slashing .206/.432/.221 with five stolen bases and a 13/24 strikeout to walk ratio over 23 games for Low A Palm Beach.
