Thought I would try something a little different this week. Instead of giving a stats update, I decided to go ahead and update the rankings. There have been some big changes since the beginnning of the draft season, and I wouldn’t be surprised to still see a lot of changes in this last month. The way it is shaping up, I believe the best pick for the Cardinals is going to be a pitcher, and maybe even a college lefty. We all know the Cardinals could use some potential starters as the relief corps in the minors is stacked and the position player depth is actually pretty good. You have probably also realized that we could use some help from the left side. Check out the names that are rising and falling and the players that should be in the Cardinals range all inside.
1. Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego St.
Best prospect by far in this draft, some say the best pitching prospect ever. Tossed a no-no on Friday in which he struck out 17.
2. Dustin Ackley, OF/1B, North Carolina
Best position player in the draft holds the #2 spot for now until we see a little more from the 2 independent league pitchers.
3. Aaron Crow, RHP, Fort Worth
Arguably the best pitcher in last year’s loaded draft is back and sitting near the top of the board in this year’s weaker draft. Touched 97 mph in his first outing of the season, but showed some expected rust.
4. Tyler Matzek, LHP, California HS
High school lefty with polish and great stuff.
5. Tanner Scheppers, RHP, St. Paul
Some teams may be scared off by last year’s injury, but he has unbelievable stuff and a prototypical frame. Think Matt Garza.
6. Alex White, RHP, North Carolina
Has the stuff and the size of a top of the rotation starter, but has not dominated like some would like.
7. Donovan Tate, OF, Georgia HS
Super toolsy outfielder sits atop the prep position player prospects.
8. Kyle Gibson, RHP, Missouri
Dominating righty still has room to fill out and add even more to already impressive stuff.
9. Shelby Miller, RHP, Texas HS
Top prep righty has mid-90′s heat and a bulldog mentality.
10. Matthew Purke, LHP, Texas HS
Has better stuff than Matzek, but there is more effort in his delivery and some worry about his control and mechanics.
11. Zack Wheeler, RHP, Georgia HS
95 mph fastball, nasty breaking ball, and projectable 6’4″ frame make Wheeler a hot commodity.
12. Grant Green, SS, USC
Once considered the top college position player in the draft, Green has had a down year and scouts now question his power and ability to stay at short.
13. Mike Leake, RHP, Arizona St.
Suffers from the small righty stigma, but he has good stuff, great control, and has done nothing but win with the Sun Devils.
14. Jacob Turner, RHP, Missouri HS
Built like a horse at 6’5″ 220 pounds, he also has impressive stuff headlined by a 92-94 mph fastball. You may have heard them talking about him during the Cardinals game yesterday when they mentioned that Mo and Jocketty were in the stands at one of his starts.
15. Rex Brothers, LHP, Lipscomb
Top college southpaw possesses a 97 mph heater and a plus slider. The questions with him center around control and his lack of a third pitch.
16. Andrew Oliver, LHP, Oklahoma St.
Lefty is finally starting to rebound from long layoff due to eligibility issues. Oliver may have the most complete arsenal of any collegiate lefty.
17. Rich Poythress, 1B, Georgia
Poythress has done nothing but mash, and he will go as soon as someone is ready to take a player with only one tool. However, it is the most important tool.
18. Jared Mitchell, OF, LSU
Mitchell isn’t lacking for tools, but he has the opposite problem from Poythress. He can fly and has some pop, but will he hit for enough average?
19. James Paxton, LHP, Kentucky
Paxton throws 97 mph from the left side and throws strikes. He has been a little too hittable and the ERA doesn’t look great, but somebody will be intriqued by what he does offer. He reminds me a lot of former first rounder Aaron Poreda.
20. Tyler Skaggs, LHP, California HS
Projectable high school lefty with 3 pitches. He is nowhere close to a finished product, but you can dream on the upside.
21. Luke Bailey, C, Georgia HS
Takes a hit due to recent Tommy John surgery, but still has impressive bat and receiving skills. Look for a big market franchise to jump on Bailey and try to convince him it is better to rehab as a professional.
22. Mike Minor, LHP, Vanderbilt
Has had a somewhat down year, but he has a young team behind him. Still getting a lot of strikeouts and keeping the walks low. He won’t ever be a top of the rotation starter, but he has 4 major league pitches and throws strikes.
23. Tim Wheeler, OF, Sacramento St.
Toolsy college star has power and speed from the left side.
24. Kendal Volz, RHP, Baylor
The big righty has power stuff, but his max effort style and shaky control lead many to believe he is destined for the bullpen.
25. Max Stassi, C, California HS
Another member of the talented prep catching crop in this year’s draft, Stassi is known for his smooth stroke at the plate.
26. Matt Hobgood, RHP, California HS
Monster high school righty has 2 plus pitches in his fastball and arguably the best curve in the prep ranks.
27. Alex Wilson, RHP, Texas A&M
Another smallish righty, Wilson is a Tommy John survivor with big time stuff and surprisingly good control.
28. Mychal Givens, SS/RHP, Florida HS
Right up there with Tate as the best athlete in the draft, Givens is a smooth shortstop with plus speed. However, some teams may prefer him on the mound because of his 97 mph fastball.
29. Jason Stoffel, RHP, Arizona
Its not a great year for college relievers, but Stoffel is the best pure reliever in the draft. The stuff is down from the past, but some believe he has been overworked and will benefit from a little time off.
30. Tony Sanchez, C, Boston College
The top collegiate catcher in the draft is putting up great numbers this year for the Eagles. Teams love catchers that produce, and Sanchez won’t have to wait long to hear his name called on draft day.
Entries (RSS)
James Paxton looks like a guy to get
PJ, I agree I was thinking that #19 is where we are drafting and he is a hard throwing lefty….how much better can you get and he might be another Colonel to go with Wellemeyer too ;)
I wasn’t able to see Brothers on Friday. Minor got moved from Friday to Saturday last week, but if he gets moved back to Friday this week, I might be able to go see UT @ Vandy. If he’s on Saturday, it’s a possibility if I can squeeze some things in.
Do you not have Kentrail Davis on the list because of his leverage as an eligible sophmore or has he fallen out of the first round as far as rankings go?
combination of both on davis. he isn’t having a great year, he has that extra leverage, i believe boras is his agent, and nobody thinks he can stick in center. i just don’t think he has the power to be an everyday left fielder especially since he isn’t a base stealer. i would look for him to be back at tennessee next year.
I agree, I’m down with any of the top 3 college lefties.
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still a big fan of zach wheeler…wouldn’t be mad if we took him, though he probably won’t be there at 19
he’s also one of my favorites. some people question his delivery, but the kid has 3 great pitches and can throw them all for strikes.
Farm system weakness = LHP. Lots to choose from. Rex Brothers is pretty interesting to watch. Slade Heathcott intrigues me, 5-tool OF with some makeup concerns, wonder how big of a deal that really is.
heathcott would be a very solid 2nd round pick. he could also go as a pitcher.
many mock drafts have the cardinals picking local high schooler Jacob Turner, and i mean many. he has expressed a deep interest in going to North Carolina though. another mock draft i looked at had us taking cf from california Tim wheeler. i really hope we dont add another outfielder to our ever growing supply of outfield talent
If Turner fell to us, I’d be pretty thrilled if we picked him: even if he didn’t sign, it’d be a good pick.
I really don’t know a ton about Paxton but the velocity from the left side definitely intrigues me. I like Minor and I’m scared of Volz. I don’t know if I could take another highly drafted pitcher being turned into a reliever. We need legitimate starters.
I’d be happy with Grant Green, but I doubt he even falls to where he’s ranked on this list.
From what I’ve read, it sounds like this year’s pool is significantly weaker than last year’s once you get below that #1 spot (and no bleeping way Strasburg falls to the 19th slot, regardless of how much money Boras is going to try to get for him). Under the circumstances, I would be tempted to draft conservatively and NOT go for a high-upside guy, with the reasoning that “high-upside” for this year’s class isn’t intrinsically all that high. Unless something unexpected (i.e., Aaron Crow) falls way down the board, this might be a year to go for the best catcher or MIF available in the 10th slot, and accept that whoever he is, he’s more likely to be “serviceable” than a star. This is exactly contrary to my usual draft philosophy, but it looks right for this year.
Actually, it’s kind of a good year to be drafting late. If I followed a team lousy enough to have earned a #7 or #8 draft choice (Braves, Reds), I’d be ticked that the compensation for my having a bad team was so feeble.
@ Vallon … still think it’s going to be another 2 weeks before any mock drafts are anything but complete guesses for any pick except #1. you may hear that teams “like” a certain player, but no one has performed consistently this year, so I really think it’s going to come down to how HSers perform in their playoffs and collegiates perform in their conference and NCAA tourneys. Plus the two indy Ps are only two starts into their year. just my opinion.
Has anyone seen Turner pitch? I am curious how he compares to Melville and Odorizzi who were in last year’s draft class.
Paxton signing with Boras concerns me. I haven’t read anything about him that makes me think the headache of getting him signed is worth compared to others in the class. Chad James interests me although I don’t think the Cards are inclined to draft a HS pitcher so high.
I hope all the top pitchers are not gone by #19. If they are, it might be better to plow more money on international signees.
check out the draft report at mlb.com, he is 6-5 and according to the cardinal network hit 96 while john mozeliak was watching. there are several mock drafts released by baseballamerica by the way that can be checked weekly. i checked the archives and the last pitcher drafted out of a Missouri high school by the cardinals was max sherzer, arizonas top pitching prospect, who elected not to sign with the cardinals. hope history doesnt repeat
somebody’s getting a little crazy with the thumbs up and thumbs down buttons.
haha, fewgoodcards haters to the left!
I was in Phoenix for the weekend and saw Mike Leake pitch a good game versus Winthrop. I have to say I was pretty impressed with him. He wasn’t a very big guy, but his stuff sure looked good. He had a good sinking fastball with nice movement and he worked both sides of the plate well. He also mixed in a curveball and a change up. I was lucky enought to be sitting just two rows behind home plate so I was able to get a good view. I know smallish right handed control pitchers don’t project well as starters in the major leagues, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the Cardinals take a chance on him if he happens to fall to the second round.
The only other player that really stood out was Jason Kipnis. Apparently he has been struggling a bit lately, but you could definitely see his talent. He made good contact on a couple of pitches.
On a different subject, I spoke to a few of the die hard ASU fans sitting around me about Brett Wallace. Most of them weren’t really that fond of him. They all thought he had too much attitude. I haven’t seen the attitude when I have attended games here in Springfield, but it was interesting to hear what his past fans think of him.
@sshanec – From the draft reports I’ve checked out recently, Mike Leake probably won’t last until the Cards’ first pick at #19, let alone the 2nd round. I’d love to see the Cards grab him, but from the sound of it right now, they probably won’t get the chance.
Lefty lefty lefty please!
Then high-upside high schooler.
What happened to Grant Green’s stock? Prior to the start of the season, he was considered a Top 5 pick, with an impact bat and gold glove defense from SS. Basically a Troy Tulowitzki clone. How can his stock have fallen so much now?
because scouts now believe he has neither an impact bat nor gold glove defense. he is a solid contact hitter, but he just hasn’t shown much power this year. he also hasn’t had the range a lot of people were expecting and some believe he will have to move over to third after he fills out. the problem there is he doesn’t have the power you look for in a third baseman.