Chicago Cubs Draft: Ranking the NL Central draft hauls

4. St. Louis Cardinals

I can understand what the Cardinals were trying to do with their first few picks, taking three consecutive high school players, with the hope of having an underrated college player sign in the third round. However, that guy was Levi Prater? Don’t get me wrong, Prater is a fine pick here, and he could end up making me eat my words.

He made 16 appearances – including 14 starts – a year ago and struck out 97 batters in 80.0 innings while limiting the opposition to a .217 average. But he also walked 43 guys during that span. Before the shutdown, he made four starts, striking out 33 in 23.2 innings but also walked ten.

In the first round, Jordan Walker was a solid choice. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound third baseman is committed to Duke in the fall. He’s fast for a guy his size, running the 60-yard dash in 6.56 seconds at the 2019 Perfect Game Showcase.

I also liked the Ian Bedell pick in the fourth round. He’s a local kid from Mizzou and grew up a Cardinal fan, so that’s actually a cool story. He needed a full season in the Tigers rotation, as he made all but one appearances from the bullpen last year.

Through four starts this year, Bedell struck out 35 batters in 24.1 innings while holding opponents to a .211 average. His command is on par, allowing just four walks this year and 12 last season.