Cardinals Make Six Picks on Second Day of MLB Draft

The 2020 MLB Draft wrapped up on Thursday evening, with the event spanning just five rounds this year instead of 40, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Cardinals drafted third baseman Jordan Walker with their first-round pick on Wednesday, and the team made six more selections on Thursday, in rounds 2-5.

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St. Louis chose Masyn Winn as the 54th overall pick of the draft. Winn attended Kingwood High School in Kingwood, Texas, and the Cardinals drafted the 18-year-old as a shortstop and right-handed pitcher. On the mound, Winn ranged from 94-98 MPH with his fastball, and MLB Pipeline gives him a 65/80 arm grade as well as a fielding grade of 55.

Right-handed pitcher Markevian ‘Tink’ Hence from Watson Chapel High School in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was the 63rd overall pick. In his junior year of high school last spring, Hence touched 96 MPH with his fastball and posted a 0.64 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 43 ²⁄₃ innings. During his travel league last summer, Hence punched out 41 batters in 18 frames across four appearances. Hence will turn 18 years old in August.

Both Winn and Hence are committed to Arkansas.

The Cardinals went with outfielder Alec Burleson from East Carolina University as the 70th pick, the team’s first 2020 draftee out of college. In three years with the East Carolina Pirates, Burleson slashed .341/.387/.496 with 12 home runs. On the mound, he held a 3.47 ERA in 47 games (21 starts) over those three years.

Former VEB writer and current FanGraphs contributor Ben Clemens noted..

Burleson will be the third pitcher in the Cardinals’ farm from ECU, joining Chris Holba and Evan Kruczynski.

With the 93rd pick, the Cardinals selected left-handed hurler Levi Prater from Oklahoma, making him the team’s first college pitcher of the draft. Prater has 33 strikeouts in 23 ²⁄₃ innings in a shortened spring this year after leading the Sooners with a 3.26 ERA and 97 punchouts in 80 innings in 2019. Prater sits around 90 MPH with his fastball with a good slider, making him tough against left-handed batters.

Mizzou pitcher Ian Bedell was drafted by the Cardinals as the 122nd overall pick. The righty Bedell worked as a long reliever for the Tigers last year and as a starter this spring. In 2019 out of the ‘pen, Bedell maintained a 1.56 ERA in 40 frames while holding opponents to a .193 average. Bedell is 20 years old and actually skipped his senior year of high school to join Mizzou.

With their final pick of the 2020 MLB Draft, the Cardinals chose outfielder Leonard Jones from Long Beach State. Jones played in only two games last year after getting hit by a pitch on his hand. In 2018, Jones led the Long Beach Dirtbags with a .312 batting mark, helped out by a stretch of 10 multi-hit games in a couple weeks. In 14 games this year, Jones has an .886 OPS.

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2020 MLB Draft selections for the Cardinals:

21st overall - Jordan Walker, SS, Decatur High School

54th - Maysn Winn, SS/RHP, Kingwood High School

63rd - Tink Hence, RHP, Watson Chapel High School

70th - Alec Burleson, OF, East Carolina University

93rd - Levi Prater, LHP, University of Oklahoma

122nd - Ian Bedell, RHP, University of Missouri

152nd - Leonard Jones, OF, Long Beach State University

All videos used are credited to the Perfect Game Baseball YouTube channel.