By Rob Rains
At last year’s amateur draft, the Cardinals had to nervously wait through the selections of six teams to see if the player they really wanted would fall to them.
That player, JJ Wetherholt, was indeed still available when it was the Cardinals’ turn to pick.
This year, the Cardinals only have to sit through the picks from four teams to find out if their desired player will still be on the board.
The Cardinals, thanks to luck in the draft lottery that moved them up from the 13th overall pick to the fifth overall selection, will sweat through the picks from the Nationals, Angels, Mariners and Rockies on Sunday night before it will be their turn to make a selection.
While scouting director Randy Flores and the Cardinals are not tipping their hand, the general consensus from industry experts is that two of those top four picks, in some order, will be LSU lefthander Kade Anderson and high school infielder Ethan Holliday, the son of former Cardinal Matt Holliday.
It’s who is selected by the two other teams that will be important to the Cardinals, who have not been in this position for a long time.
The last year the Cardinals had the fifth overall pick in the draft was 1998, when they selected J.D. Drew. After picking seventh last year, this is the first time in franchise history the Cardinals have picked inside the top 10 in the draft in consecutive years.
Because of the lottery rules, the Cardinals will not be able to pick higher than 10th in next year’s draft regardless of how they finish this season.
The Cardinals will have their choice of several well-regarded prospects with the fifth pick, needing to decide if they want to draft a position player, likely a high school choice, or go with a pitcher, probably from the college ranks.
The player who has been linked the most to the Cardinals by industry experts is Eli Willits, a high school shortstop from Oklahoma who is only 17 years old, the youngest player in the draft.
Willits was originally in the 2026 draft class but was able to reclassify for this year’s draft after graduating early from high school in three years.
Willits is the son of former Angels outfielder Reggie Willits, who now is an assistant coach at Oklahoma.
This spring he led Fort Cobb-Broxton High School to its third consecutive state championship. They also have a fall league in Oklahoma, and Willits led the team to the state title in that season all three years that he was in high school as well.
Willits posted a .516 average this spring with nine homers, 33 RBIs and 48 stolen bases in 34 games. Among his other sizzling statistics, he struck out only once all spring.
If one of the teams picking ahead of the Cardinals drafts Willits, the Cardinals will have a choice of two other prep shortstops, JoJo Parker from Mississippi or Billy Carlson from California, or whichever college lefthander is not selected among the top four picks – Anderson, Jamie Arnold of Florida State or Liam Doyle of Tennessee.
The consensus among draft experts is that the top two college position players are Aiva Arquette, an infielder from Oregon State and Ike Irish, a catcher and outfielder from Auburn.
When the Cardinals selected Wetherholt with the seventh overall pick last year, they did not have another choice in the draft until the 80th overall selection. This year, the Cardinals will make three more picks on Sunday night with the 55th overall choice, their second-round pick, the 72nd overall pick, a competitive balance selection, and the 89th overall pick, their choice in the third round.
The draft is being condensed to two days this year instead of the three days it has been in the past. The picks in rounds 4-20 will come on Monday.
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