photo: Brendan Donovan (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
After Brendan Donovan stood out in the All-Star Game, the St. Louis Cardinals were swept in Arizona and have fallen into fourth place. In our history feature, prior Cardinals first round draft picks are revisited.
Game recaps
Monday, July 14, 2025 – No game, All-Star Break
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 –National League 7, American League 6 (10 innings)
The two leagues met for the annual MLB All-Star Game, held this year at Truist Park in Atlanta. The National League defeated the American League by the score of 7-6 in “extra innings”.
The lone Cardinal All-Star was Brendan Donovan. Donovan entered in the fifth inning, replacing Ketel Marte at second base. Donovan played the remainder of the game and went 2-for-3 and scored a run. He was the only player to have multiple hits on either roster.
In Donovan’s first at bat in the sixth inning, he hit an infield single to AL shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Donovan scored, along with Fernando Tatis, on a Pete Alonso home run.
Donovan singled again in the seventh, on a line drive to center field. He did not score. Donovan’s last at bat in the ninth was listed as a “ground out to the catcher”. It was essentially what looked like a foul ball that was called fair. Donovan apparently thought it was foul, as he made no attempt to run. This was the last out of the ninth. At that point, the game was tied 6-6.
Rather than have the regular 10th inning with the ghost runner on second, the game was decided by what was called a “swing off’. Each manager chose three hitters and they competed to hit home runs with only three swings allowed. The side with the most home runs after all six hitters completed their three swings, earned the winning run.
The National League won the swing off with four home runs hit to the AL’s three home runs. Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies hit three of the NL’s four home runs and was named the All-Star Game MVP.
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 – No game, All-Star Break
Thursday, July 17, 2025 – No game, All-Star Break
Friday, July 18, 2025 – Cardinals 3 at Diamondbacks 7
The Cardinals fell to the Diamondbacks by a 7-3 score on Friday. Starter Andre Pallante pitched 4 2/3 innings, gave up six runs, five earned, on nine hits, struck out three and walked two. Pallante took the loss.
John King relieved Pallante and surrendered one run in 1 1/3 innings. Kyle Leahy tossed the final two scoreless innings.
The Diamondbacks took a 3-0 lead in the second inning and added two runs in the third. Single runs in the fifth and seventh increased the lead to 7-0.
The Cardinals finally managed to put three runs on the board in the ninth. Masyn Winn singled and advanced to second on a ground out by Jordan Walker. Pedro Pagés singled to score Winn. Victor Scott followed with a two-run home run.
The Cardinals scored three runs on 10 hits. Pagés was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Winn was 2-for-4. Iván Herrera was 2-for-5. Scott had two RBI.
On the bases, Winn stole his sixth base of the season. On defense, Pallante made a throwing error.
Saturday, July 19, 2025 – Cardinals 1 at Diamondbacks 10
The Cardinals lost again to the Diamondbacks, this time by the score of 10-1. Starter Sonny Gray pitched 3 1/3 innings, gave up nine runs, eight earned, on 11 hits and fanned five. Gray took the loss.
Gordon Graceffo relieved Gray and threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings. John King surrendered one unearned run in the eighth.
The Diamondbacks rocked Gray for three runs in the first, two in the second, one in the third, and three in the fourth before the right hander was removed with one out in the fourth.
The Cardinals scored their only run in the sixth on an Alec Burleson home run. Arizona tagged John King for their 10th run in the eighth. The run was unearned due to a fielding error by Thomas Saggese.
The Cardinal offense scored their lone run on the home run and scattered six more hits. Masyn Winn was 3-for-4. They were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
In addition to the Saggese error, Pedro Pagés was called for catcher interference, which led to the one unearned run attached to Gray (a two-run home run by Eugenio Suarez in the first inning).
Sunday, July 20 – Cardinals 3 at Diamondbacks 5
The Cardinals were swept by the Diamondbacks, losing the final game of the series 5-3. Starter Miles Mikolas pitched four innings, gave up five runs on four hits, struck out three and walked two.
Steven Matz relieved Mikolas and threw a scoreless fifth. Riley O’Brien, Jo Jo Romero and Ryan Helsley each pitched a scoreless inning.
The Diamondbacks put up four runs on Mikolas in the first inning. The Cardinals scored a run in the top of the third to cut the lead to 4-1. Victor Scott doubled and stole second base. Iván Herrera singled to score Scott.
Arizona added a run in the home third to increase the lead to 5-3. St. Louis shrunk the lead to 5-2 in the fifth. Yohel Pozo, Jordan Walker and Victor Scott walked to load the bases. Pozo came home on a ground out by Brendan Donovan.
The Cardinals scored a final run in the ninth for the ending 5-3 score. Masyn Winn singled. Walker plated Winn on a single.
The Cardinals scored three runs on seven hits. Walker was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
On the bases, Scott stole his 25th base of the season.
The Big Picture
The Cardinals were 0-3 for the shortened post All-Star Game week as they were swept handily by the Arizona Diamondbacks. The team has now dropped into fourth place in the NL Central, 8.5 games behind first place Chicago. They have lost seven of their last 10 games.
The offense wasn’t there in the three games as they were outscored seven to 22. In fact, there wasn’t much of anything going on in the three games on any side of the ball.
The top offensive performers by OPS are Masyn Winn (1.000) and Alec Burleson (.954). Victor Scott was close behind (.873).
At the bottom are Iván Herrera (.462), Brendan Donovan (.350) and Nolan Arenado (.273).
On the pitching side, all three starters were bad. Sonny Gray (21.60 ERA) looked worse than he has looked all season. Miles Mikolas (11.25) and Andre Pallante (9.64) were not much better.
The bullpen was the only side of the team that performed well.
The Cardinals have 10 games in a row before an off day, which doesn’t bode well, considering they played as badly as they have all season after four days off.
The Cardinals move on to Denver to play the Rockies. They then return home for a four-game series with the Padres.
The die may already have been cast, but the team has these 10 days before the deadline to show something or a sell at the deadline is likely coming.
NL Central Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB |
| Chicago | 59 | 40 | 0.596 | |
| Milwaukee | 59 | 40 | 0.596 | |
| Cincinnati | 52 | 48 | 0.520 | 7.5 |
| St. Louis | 51 | 49 | 0.510 | 8.5 |
| Pittsburgh | 39 | 61 | 0.390 | 20.5 |
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch reports that a “handful of teams are poking around on (left-handed pitcher Steven) Matz”. Matz’s contract is up at the end of the season and he will become a free agent. Matz has value as both a starter and a multi-inning reliever and that could generate interest from teams that are seeking one or both.
Transactions
- 7/17 The Cardinals optioned 2B Thomas Saggese to the Memphis Redbirds.
- 7/18 The Cardinals activated RF Jordan Walker from the 10-day injured list.
- 7/19 The Cardinals placed 2B Nolan Gorman on the 10-day injured list retroactive to July 18. Lower back pain.
- 7/19 The Cardinals recalled 2B Thomas Saggese from the Memphis Redbirds.
Injury Report
- LHP Zack Thompson (left lat strain) was transferred to the 60-day injured list on April 7. Thompson had a setback in his rehab and returned to the Cardinals spring training facility in Jupiter, Florida to resume his throwing program. There have been no updates on Thompson’s progress for quite some time.
- RF Jordan Walker has been activated from the 10-day injured list.
- LF Lars Nootbaar (left costochondrial sprain) was placed on the 10-day injured list on July 13. Nootbaar had been dealing with left side discomfort for over a week and had to be removed from games early on several occasions. The team is hoping Nootbaar can begin some swing activity on July 21.
Looking Ahead
After being swept in Arizona, the Cardinals finish their road trip with three in Denver against the Rockies.
The team returns home from Colorado to play a seven-game homestand to end the month of July. The San Diego Padres come to Busch Stadium for four games beginning Thursday, July 24. After that, the Cardinals will play three with the Miami Marlins.
August begins with another road trip, first to San Diego, then to Los Angeles for three against the Dodgers.
After a travel day on Thursday, August 7, a nine-day homestand begins, first with the Cubs for a three-game set. Three games with the Rockies, then three against the Yankees ends the homestand.
Blast from the Past
The annual MLB Draft took place this year on Sunday, July 13 and Monday, July 14. The draft consisted of 20 rounds. The Cardinals had the fifth pick and chose LHP Liam Doyle from the University of Tennessee. All 21 selections plus two free agents have been signed as of Sunday.
Our entire 2025 Draft class has been signed. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/hCSwpKIBFk
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) July 20, 2025
This week’s Blast from the Past is a brief history of the Cardinals’ first round picks in the annual draft. This history will not cover every first-round pick but will highlight notable ones and other interesting details of the Cardinals’ history in the first round of the draft.
Since the draft was first implemented in 1965, the Cardinals have drafted 89 players in the first round. Some years the Cardinals had multiple first round picks, as compensatory or supplemental picks for losing free agents.
The Cardinals forfeited their first-round pick in 2002 because they signed free agent Mike Sirotka, who the Chicago White Sox claimed was still under contract with them. The forfeiture was a penalty for that signing. They also lost their first-round pick in 2017 as a punishment for the hacking scandal involving then-Scouting Director Chris Correa.
Of the 89 first round picks, 46 were pitchers, 35 righties and 11 lefties. The others were 11 outfielders, 10 third basemen, eight shortstops, six first basemen, five catchers, and two second basemen. One first round pick was listed as an “infielder”.
Thirty-eight of the picks were from high school, and 51 were from college. Twenty-two of the picks were compensatory or supplemental picks.
The Cardinals had multiple first round picks in the following years, 1988 (3), 1990 (3), 1991 (5), 1995 (2), 1998 (2), 1999 (3), 2000 (2), 2005 (4), 2006 (2), 2007 (2), 2008 (2), 2010 (3), 2012 (5), 2013 (2), 2014 (2), 2015 (2), and 2016 (3).
Three of their first-round picks played on a World Series Championship team. They are Braden Looper and Chris Duncan in 2006 and Lance Lynn in 2011. The only first round pick to win a major individual honor was Todd Worrell, who was the 1986 NL Rookie of the Year.
The Cardinals have never had a first-round pick that didn’t sign with the team. They have never had the first pick in the draft. The highest they have ever picked was third, in 1996, when they chose Looper.
The Cardinals had one first round pick elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as of this writing. That was Ted Simmons, who was the Cardinals first round pick in 1967.
The Cardinals first round pick in 1965, the first year of the MLB draft, was a right-handed pitcher named Joe DiFabio. DiFabio never made it to the major leagues.
Two players on the roster of the 2025 team were first round picks of the Cardinals. They are Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker. Pitchers Zack Thompson (currently on the injured list) and Michael McGreevy were also first round picks.
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