An Early Look at the Cardinals’ First-Round Draft Picture

Finally in Bloom’s last draft with the Red Sox in 2023, they took a more conventional route with the 14th overall pick by selecting a college catcher, Kyle Teel. At the time of the draft, he was seen as the best player still on the board as a strong-armed catcher with a good hit tool.

The Cardinals have the sixth-largest draft pool ($16.6M) thanks to their competitive balance picks, which will give them a lot of flexibility in the strategy they deploy. They can play it straight up and take the top player on their board or even use some over their bonus pool to try to float a higher-ranked talent down the board. If they don’t feel that there is a standout player available, we could definitely see an underslot deal cut to give the Cardinals even more flexibility to court top talent with their later-round picks.

If the Cardinals do decide to play it straight and take the best player available, which players could be in play at 13?

Top 2026 Draft Prospects

I personally do not follow college or high school baseball religiously, but the draft is one of my favorite baseball days of the year, so I always do some last-second cramming on the top players. My annual tradition is to get overly attached to one player and then be disappointed with who the Cardinals select (JJ being the exception).

I pulled together the latest player rankings from some of the major outlets to provide what should capture the general sentiment of how the industry views the top players in the draft. If you want to do some deeper research, here are the current rankings (free) from MLB, ESPN, and the Athletic. The below list is just a weighted average from the three outlets mentioned above. I did not include Baseball America since their content is behind a paywall, but it is, of course, exceptional as well.

Players Unlikely to be Available

The consensus right now is that the top five players in this class are unlikely to slip far, but you never know, so we might as well include them.

1. Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
Cholowsky has been the favorite to go number one overall for over a year, and that is still the case as most (all?) outlets have him ranked first in the class as a four or five tool shortstop. He is arguably about the same level of prospect Wetherholt was when he was drafted, which highlights how incredible it was that Wetherholt was available at seventh overall in that draft.

2. Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech
Lackey has been one of the big risers in this class as he came into the season as a solid bat, good glove catcher projected to go in the mid-to-late first round. He has more than doubled his power output this year and jumped to a consensus top-five draft prospect.

3. Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian HS (TX)
Emerson is the consensus best high school prospect in the class. Polished bat with power potential and expected to stick at shortstop. His scouting report reads like Kyle Tucker the hitter but with good infield defense! Regardless, he won’t fall to the Cardinals range.

4. Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
Flora has a 60 grade fastball that has topped out at 100 mph and carries a 1.15 ERA at UCSB. He is definitely closer to the Liam Doyle tier of draft prospects than to Paul Skenes, but should be the first pitcher off the board.

5. Eric Booth Jr., CF, Oak Grove HS (MS)
Booth Jr. is described as having an “unconventional” swing by multiple outlets, but has top-of-the-scale athleticism and has 70-grade speed. His scouting reports make him sound like more of a project than you would expect with a top-five pick, but his ceiling is sky high.

Players Who Could Be in the Cardinals’ Range

After the top handful of prospects, there seems to be very little consensus on how to rank the next few tiers, making this class feel even more muddled than usual.

6. Drew Burress, CF, Georgia Tech
Burress is interesting because he is probably the first player on the list so far that has a chance of being available when the Cardinals pick at 13. He also has a wild profile. Listed at 5’9”, but supposedly shorter, he has a muscular frame and average to plus power. As a freshman at Georgia Tech, he blasted 25 home runs but has followed it up with 19 and 13 (so far) in his next two seasons. Because of his great track record, he is seen as one of the safer college bats in the draft, so he is a long shot to get to the Cardinals pick.

7. Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama
Lebron is the first real “faller” on this list as he came into the season ranked in the top three and was the favorite to go number one overall at different points in his college career. He is the classic four-tool player that has shown everything but the ability to make consistent contact. His strikeout rate has been around 20% in college, which is pretty high for a top draft prospect. Some mock drafts have him falling all the way to the middle or later first round. I prefer players with an excellent hit tool, but Lebron is one of the highest upside players in the draft and could very well be there when the Cardinals pick.

8. Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida
Peterson has some of the best stuff among the college pitching prospects, but his command has not progressed enough to push him into the elite prospect tier. He walked 6.29 batters per nine as a freshman and has been in the 4s the next two years while putting up identical 4.28 ERAs each season. The stats don’t scream first-round pick, but with a plus to double-plus slider and a fastball that reaches the upper 90s, there is plenty to like here.

9. Jacob Lombard, SS, Gulliver HS (FL)
Lombard is a toolsy player with some questions about his hit tool. This ranking seems to undersell where he is expected to go in the draft as recent mocks have him going much higher. Lombard is a 65 or 70 grade runner, super athletic, and projects to stick at shortstop.

10. Chris Hacopian, SS, Texas A&M
If you squint extremely hard, maybe you can see a little JJ Wetherholt in Hacopian’s profile. He had an electric sophomore season at Maryland posting a .375/.502/.656 stat line. He has battled injuries this season after transferring to Texas A&M in the SEC, but is still hitting .307/.401/.562, with a K/BB ratio of 1.16. He is not seen as a player that will stick at shortstop long-term, but is one of the best pure bats in the class.

11. Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina
Flukey was ranked as the top college pitching prospect heading into the 2026 season, but has missed most of the season with a rib injury. He is probably one of the more volatile pitchers on the board that will have his draft position impacted by his performance and health in the tournament. Flukey has a prototypical pitcher build at 6’6”, but with room to add additional weight as he matures. He has the fastball to match his frame that sits in the mid-90s with good shape.

12. Eric Becker, SS, Virginia
Becker is a tall lanky shortstop that produced impressive batting lines as a freshman and sophomore at Virginia. Scouts were hoping to see the power develop more, but his offense has backed up slightly as a junior. MLB Pipeline gives him a 60 grade hit tool. While he does seem to have a good feel for finding the barrel, his plate discipline numbers are nothing special with an 18/33 BB/K ratio this year.

13. Sawyer Strosnider, RF, TCU
Strosnider is a draft-eligible sophomore who has some of the best tools in the class. He had an impressive freshman season at TCU putting up a 138 wRC+. His batting line is down as a sophomore, but that is mostly due to his BABIP falling below .300. He has increased his walk rate from 8% to 18.4% while keeping his strikeout rate around 18% both seasons. He projects as a corner outfielder in pro ball.

14. Ryder Helfrick, C, Arkansas
Helfrick is a defense-first catcher that has impressive pull-side power. He has hit 15 home runs at Arkansas each of the last two seasons. His strikeout rate has steadily improved from 26.9% as a freshman to 17.4% as a junior, but there are still questions about his hit tool and ability to hit breaking balls. I know teams typically do not draft for need, but surely the Cardinals’ current depth at catcher would steer them away from Helfrick. It would be a troll job of epic proportions if they spent a first-round pick on another catcher.

15. A.J. Gracia, CF, Virginia
Gracia has big-time bat speed and has translated it into over 40 home runs in three seasons at Duke and Virginia. He has a good plate approach as he has walked more than he has struck out the last two seasons. Listed at 6’3” and 195 pounds, Gracia is one of the more polished hitters in the draft and may have a chance to stick in center field at the next level.

There you have it, 15 players that the Cardinals are definitely not going to pick now that I have taken the time to get to know them.