After the St. Louis Cardinals were named as Keith Law’s favorite draft class from Day 1 of the 2025 MLB Draft, they went back to the college ranks for the Rounds 4 through 20 on Day 2.
Armed with the fifth overall pick, the Cardinals were ecstatic to land Tennessee left-hander Liam Doyle who headlined their first four selections. They then selected high school outfielder Ryan Mitchell before their remaining 19 selections all came from the college ranks. Day one ended with first baseman Jack Gurevitch but the Cardinals went back to the mound for three of their next four picks on day two.
Rounds 4-7: P Cade Crossland, P Ethan Young, OF Matthew Miura, P Payton Graham
St. Louis chose pitchers Cade Crossland (Oklahoma), Ethan Young (East Carolina), and Payton Graham (Gonzaga) in rounds four, five, and seven, respectively, with outfielder Matthew Miura (Hawaii) getting selected in the sixth round. Each of the pitchers chosen have power fastballs reaching the upper-90s but have conflicting outlooks on what their future may look like on the professional mound. This could be due to durability concerns, command issues, or needing to develop secondary offerings which are all common thoughts for pitchers after the first few rounds.
Rounds 8-11: SS Ryan Weingartner, 3B Michael Dattalo, P Ty Van Dyke, SS Jalin Flores
The organization then decided to replenish some position player depth by doing the inverse of the previous four rounds and now chose three hitters. Ryan Weingartner is a shortstop from Penn State who is known for his athleticism on the field and on the bases while taking quality at-bats. He walked more than he struck out while stealing plenty of bases but he does not have much power projection. Texas shortstop Jalin Flores was the Cardinals’ 11th-round pick and they probably were surprised to see him still available. Both MLB.com and Baseball America had Flores ranked in the mid-200 prospect range and the Cardinals were able to choose him with pick 330 overall. He struggled at the plate in 2025, which could have plenty to do with his fall down the board, but he hits the ball hard and projects to stick at shortstop.
Rounds 12-20: P Kaden Echeman, P Jake Shelagowski, P Anthony Watts, SS Trevor Haskins, P Alex Breckheimer, OF Cameron Nickens, P Dylan Driessen, P Liam Best, C Chase Heath
Over the final nine rounds of the Draft, the Cardinals selected six pitchers, giving them a total of 12 pitchers chosen overall. Kaden Echeman sits in the low-90s with his fastball but has occasionally shown strong secondary offerings but has not been able to do so with consistency. Alex Breckheimer is a massive righty arm who stands at 6’5, 270 pounds that has a high-effort delivery with a mid-90s fastball that can touch 98mph. He has a solid slider but will need to continue developing his curveball and changeup. Dylan Driessen was selected out of South Dakota State where he was a reliever for all three years. Coming into the Draft, Driessen was ranked as the highest-rated prospect in either North or South Dakota.
The Cardinals will now work to sign these players and decide what their paths will be as they either begin their professional careers or decide to return to school for another season. St. Louis selected six college seniors who usually prove to be the easiest to sign because they do not have the option to return to school and tend to offer cost savings that can be allocated to the younger selections.
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