Home BaseballSt. Louis Cardinals ST. LOUIS CARDINALS COMPLETE 2020 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS COMPLETE 2020 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT

by St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals selected six players on the second day to conclude the 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, bringing their total to seven picks over the two-day event. Three pitchers, one infielder, two outfielders and one two-way player round out their seven total selections, which were tied for most among all teams in the draft with the San Francisco Giants. The club’s first three picks were chosen from high schools, while their final four selections were college players.

Masyn Winn, the Cardinals second round pick (No. 54 overall) out of the Kingwood (Tex.) High School, is a 5-11, 180 lb. right-handed pitcher and shortstop. Featuring an upper 90s fastball and 12-6 curve ball, the right-hander went 13-0 with a 0.67 ERA (76.1 IP) and 117 strikeouts on the mound in his junior season for the Mustangs on his way to the District 22-6A MVP. Winn also posted a .417 batting average with eight home runs and 46 RBI while scoring 37 runs. Winn has signed his letter of intent to the University of Arkansas.

Markevian “Tink” Hence, the Cardinals Competitive Balance Round B pick (No. 63 overall), is a 6-1, 175 lb. pitcher from Watson Chapel (Ark.) High School. Featuring a mid-90s fastball, slider, and changeup, the right-handed pitcher turns 18 in August 2020. Also a verbal committed to the University of Arkansas, Hence is an alum of MLB/USA Baseball’s Breakthrough Series and Dream Series. His older brother, Braelin, is a redshirt sophomore infielder at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Alec Burleson, the Cardinals second round Compensation pick (No. 70 overall) for outfielder Marcell Ozuna signing with the Atlanta Braves, is an outfielder from East Carolina University. The 6-2, 212 lb. two-way player batted a career .341/.387/.496  (141-413) with 12 home runs and 91 RBI in 116 games at four different positions (1B, LF, RF, DH) for the Pirates. Over his pitching career, the left-handed pitcher was 13-5 with a 3.47 ERA (137.2 IP), nine saves, and 139 strikeouts in 47 appearances. Burleson earned 2020 preseason First-Team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball as a utility player and CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-America honors. Burleson joins Seth Maness (2011, 11th round), Evan Kruczynski (2017, ninth round), Chris Holba (2018, 11th round) as the fourth ECU Pirate to be drafted by St. Louis.

Levi Prater, the Cardinals third round selection (No. 93 overall), is a left-handed pitcher from the University of Oklahoma. The 6-0, 184 lb. southpaw was 11-8 with a 3.56 ERA (154.1 IP) and 194 strikeouts in 53 career appearances (11.31 SO/9) over his career for the Sooners, including going 1-0 with a 3.42 ERA (23.2 IP) and 33 strikeouts (12.80 SO/9) in four starts as a junior during the shortened 2020 season. In 2017, the Ada, Okla. native, who lost three fingers on his right hand as a child due to a lawnmower accident, led Byng (Okla.) High School to its 2017 4A State Championship while winning the Oklahoma 4A and Conference Player of the Year Awards in his senior season.

Ian Bedell, the Cardinals fourth round selection (No. 122 overall), is a twenty-year-old right-handed pitcher from the University of Missouri. The 2020 Perfect Game/Rawlings Preseason Third-Team All-American and D1Baseball Preseason Third-Team All-American was 2-2 with a 3.70 ERA (24.1 IP), 35 strikeouts, and four walks (8.75 SO/BB) in four starts as a junior in 2020, ranking third in the SEC (T-43rd in NCAA Division 1) in strikeouts before the season ended early. One of youngest college prospects in the 2020 MLB Draft, Bedell skipped his senior season of high school to reclassify and enroll early at Missouri. The Davenport, Iowa native, who has an identical twin brother, won the AABC Connie Mack World Series his junior summer with the Midland Redskins (Ohio). This marks the second straight year St. Louis has drafted a pitcher from Missouri (Cameron Dulle, 2019, 30th round), with Bedell becoming the ninth Missouri Tiger overall and the highest-drafted in Cardinals history.

Leonard (LJ) Charles Jones IV, the Cardinals fifth round pick (No. 152 overall), is a redshirt sophomore outfielder from Long Beach State University. The Chula Vista, Calif. native hit a career .315/.365/.436 (57-181), with three home runs, 11 doubles, and 31 RBI in 58 games during his time at Long Beach State. After leading the Dirtbags in batting (.312) as a true freshman in 2018, Jones missed most of the 2019 season, appearing in just two games, getting hit by pitch against the Florida Gators and redshirting. In 2017, his Eastlake team won the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship, ending the season with a No. 3 rank nationally and a No. 1 state ranking from USA Today. Jones is the seventh Dirtbag drafted all-time by the Cardinals and highest since Shane Peterson (2008, 2nd round).

2020 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT – FINAL RECAP

      Rd.,   Player (overall pick)    Pos.     B-T     Ht    Wt.    School                                                            Hometown
  1. Jordan Walker (21)            3B         R-R      6-5      220      Decatur (Ga.) High School                          Mountain Ridge, Georgia

—————————————————————————–   DAY 2   ————————————————————————————-

  1. Masyn Winn (54)           SS/RHP    R-R     5-11     180      Kingwood (Tex.) High School                                              Katy, Texas

       CB B.    Tink Hence (63)                RHP       R-R      6-1      175      Watson Chapel (Ark.) High School                     Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Comp 2.    Alec Burleson (70)             OF         L-L      6-2      212      East Carolina University                             Charlotte, North Carolina

  1. Levi Prater (93)                 LHP        S-L      6-0      185      University of Oklahoma                                               Ada, Oklahoma
  2. Ian Bedell (122)                RHP       R-R      6-2      200      University of Missouri                                                Davenport, Iowa
  3. LJ Jones IV (152)                 OF        R-R      6-0      225      Long Beach State University                              San Diego, California
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