The Cardinals are one of the hardest teams to mock in the MLB draft, but they have a few themes that they keep going back to: college arms, Cape Cod league hitters are two of the common themes. However, the MLB draft being more unpredictable than other drafts, trying to predict who will be available at 28 is an impossible task, but let's look at who is mocked to the Cardinals at 28 and try to make a sense of this.
Jonathon Crawford - RHP - Florida
Jim Callis - Baseball America. We looked at Crawford in our previous installment.
Austin Wilson - OF - Stanford
This is one of the most intriguing links we've seen throughout the draft process. The Cardinals took a chance on Austin Wilson in 2010 in the 12th round when they picked Zack Cox in the 1st round and signed him to a major league deal and didn't sign Wilson. Wilson went to Stanford and his stock didn't exactly go through the roof and the Cardinals should be still interested in Wilson. Minor League Ball wrote him up last fall, but his scouting report seems similar to when he was coming out of high school. He's got power potential at the plate, but doesn't have the best contact skills. He's a right-fielder going forward, but with a big arm to stay there long term. He's fairly advanced and could move quickly if the Cardinals would be able to straighten out his potential contact problems. This would certainly be a very exciting selection.
Billy McKinney - OF - TX(HS)
- Athletic build
- Smooth swing with very good bat speed
- Some lift in swing
- Very strong approach at the plate
- Makes consistent, hard contact
- Good arm strength with accuracy
- Projects to an outfield corner at the next level
- 6.91 in the 60 per Perfect Game
The one area the Cardinals have not gone after in the first round in recent years has been the high school hitter. For whatever reason the Cardinals prefer college hitters, college pitchers and HS pitchers in the first round.
Hunter Dozier - SS - Stephen F. Austin
Hunter Dozier looks a lot like a lot of the players that the Cardinals picked up in the last draft as he's listed at another position but will probably end up at 3rd base. The Cardinals have a lot of new talent at 3rd and unless they believe Dozier can fit at SS, I would be surprised at this pick.
Eric Jagielo - 3B - Notre Dame
Another 3rd baseman? Jagielo played on the Cape, so likely the Cardinals are very familiar with him.
Big League futures has the bullet points on Jagielo:
- Bat speed and power stand out
- Quick, smooth swing
- Plus raw power
- Solid approach at the plate
- Has played 1B, 3B, LF, and CF at Notre Dame
- May profile best to a corner outfield spot
- Above average arm