2025 Draft

Matthew Mirra is a CF for Univ of Hawaii ….Cardinals 6th rd pick

One stat that stood out

Hit .481 with runners in scoring position and .410 with two outs

And Miura hits RH. Woohoo!!!

And Mr. Van Dyke is a senior so that typically saves money to sign others although with it being the 10th, round, the savings won’t be a lot.

No worries, info is mainly from their college website

I would think Weatherholt is there top prospect as he has done it at AA, just got promoted and looked good at the Futures game over the weekend….my guess is Doyle would be #2

I, too, would slot Doyle at 2. I’m curious where the other picks will place!

1 pick to go and the Cards have not chosen a catcher. They took Campos and Kross in the 4th and 5th rounds last year. They took Crooks in the 4th round in 2022. They took Tarlow in the 19th round in 2023. They took McKeithan in the 16th round in 2021. And Antonini in the 18th round in 2019. Guess they are feeling good about that position this year? 🙂

Edit: Jinxed it. They took a catcher in the 20th.

17th round Cameron Nickens OF Austin Peay RH Bat

Started all 59 games in left field for the Govs, finishing the season with a .422 batting average, 18 home runs, and 71 RBI.

The Catcher, Chase Heath, who they took with their last pick in 20th round out of Central Missouri has some interesting stats.

Won a conference gold glove in 2024, and hit 25 HR over his last 2 years with around a .373 average

He is undersized though at 5-10 200 lbs, and not sure on competition in the MIAA

So you’re saying they should take a college hitter no matter what in the 2nd round? I am confused by that statement but even more confused because they did take a college hitter in the 2nd round.

You are definitely confused, because they drafted a high schooler in the second round.

About 80% of the time, you should draft a college hitter in the second round – that’s where the value is in the second round.

Practically everything I know about any prospects is learned from the chatter I see on this site between you guys. From what I can tell by just looking at the pictures, it seems to me as though Cardinals are really smitten by LHP’ers. Anyone else sense the same thing? I guess a lot of teams get taken in with lefties, but I noticed the Redbirds have chosen 2 LHP’ers in their first few picks.

About 80% of the time, you should draft a college hitter in the second round – that’s where the value is in the second round.

I’ve never heard anyone say this before LA. I typically hear target HS upside players in round 2 that have some type of flaw that makes them not a 1st round guy, but you think you can fix that and unlock them. Gunnar Henderson is a prime example of this.

Picks I like:
– Round 1 – Liam Doyle – out of pitchers best upside
– Round 2 – Ryan Mitchell – projectable frame and an athlete
– Round 3 – Jack Gurevitch – pure hitter ala Burly style which is fine for 3rd round guy
– Round 4 – Cade Crossland – great changeup and sounds like upside is there
– Round 8 – Ryan Weingerter – small guy but with more pop than expected. Good approach and could be a surprise prospect guy
– Round 11 – Jalin Flores – super raw with power projection for SS but needs massive discipline improvements
– Round 17 – Cameron Nickens – at least some upside for a 17th round guy

Pick I didn’t like:
– Comp Round B – Tanner Franklin – for the slot amount take a high upside HS guy instead of RP
– Round 5 – Ethan Young – again don’t understand RP at this point
– Round 9 – Michael Dattalo – 1b only but no power
– Round 12 – Kaden Echeman – bad control and not great velo – RP only

Albert, after reading everything I can about these guys, I track identical to you with 3 exceptions.

I’m adding Miura and Graham to the list of picks I like especially Miura. His speed, defense, and bat control is really exciting for a 6th rounder. And Graham has a lot of potential if he ever gets healthy. And if he doesn’t, it’s only a 7th round pick.

I’d also swing Echeman over from dislike to picks that I kind of like. I don’t actually believe he’s relief only.

But yeah, I didn’t like the Franklin, Young, and Dattalo picks either.

I have talked before about the Cardinals moving toward a piggy-back model with all or many of their pitchers. I really do wonder if they are using this draft to help set that up. It just strikes me that way based on the guys they are drafting (Doyle excluded of course).