St. Louis Cardinals blend high school talent, college pitching in MLB Amateur Draft
The St. Louis Cardinals went with youth early then took a pair of highly-touted college pitchers later Thursday in the final four rounds of the MLB Amateur Draft.
One day after choosing Decatur, Georgia, High School third baseman and 2020 Gatorade Georgia High School Player of the Year Jordan Walker in the first round with the 21st overall pick, the Cardinals selected a pair of high school standouts with two of their three second round selections.
With the 54th selection, St. Louis picked shortstop Maysn Winn of Kingwood, Texas, High School. Winn, 18, is a 5-10, 185-pound right-handed hitter and was rated as the No. 54 prospect by MLB.com entering the draft.
Winn has committed to play college baseball at the University of Arkansas.
The Cardinals then nabbed another Arkansas recruit when they took pitcher Tink Hence of Watson Chapel, Arkansas, High School with the No. 63 overall pick.
Hence, 17, is a 6-1, 175-pound right-hander whose fastball has been clocked in the 92-96 mph range. Hence entered the 2020 Draft as the No. 80 ranked prospect.
East Carolina University outfielder Alec Burleson became the first collegian chosen by the Cardinals with the No. 70 overall pick. Ranked as the No. 136 prospect, the left-handed hitting Burleson hit .341 with 12 home runs and 91 RBI during his career in which he also pitched — finishing 13-5 — and played both in the outfield and infield.
The Cardinals obtained the No. 63 pick in a trade with Tampa Bay, while the No. 70 pick came as compensation for the loss of outfielder Marcell Ozuna.
With their third round selection, St. Louis selected University of Oklahoma left-handed pitcher Levi Prater. Prater, who has only two fingers on his right hand as a result of a lawn mowing accident as a child, was 1-0 with a 3.42 ERA in four starts this season.
The 21-year-old Prater (6-foot, 184 pounds) was 7-4 with three shutouts a year ago with the Sooners.
Ranked as the No. 88 overall prospect, University of Missouri pitcher Ian Bedell was taken in the fourth round as the 122nd pick by the Cardinals.
A 20-year-old right-handed reliever from Davenport, Iowa, Bedell was a preseason third team All-American this spring after going 3-1 with a 1.56 ERA in 41 innings as a sophomore a year ago.
Final Cardinals pick, local update
With their fifth round pick, the Cardinals chose Long Beach State first baseman/outfielder LJ Jones IV.
Jones, 20, who played in just two games a year ago after suffering a hand injury, hit .312 with a home run and 22 RBI in 125 at-bats as a freshman in 2018.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and former Southwestern High School pitcher Collin Baumgartner, along with recent high school graduates Josh Dima (Belleville West) and Drake Westcott (Edwardsville), were among the local standouts not chosen in the MLB Draft.
