The St. Louis Cardinals selected eight players on the second day of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, bringing their total to 12 over the first two days. Four pitchers, three outfielders, three infielders and two catchers round out their draft count.
Zac Gallen (GAL-en), the Cardinals third round pick out of the University of North Carolina, is a 6-foot-1, 185 lb., right-handed pitcher. He was 5-6 with a 2.68 ERA in 14 starts with the Tar Heels in 2016, earning 3rd-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors, a year after 2nd-team honors during his sophomore year. The hurler ranked T4th in the ACC with 95 strikeouts. He comes from an athletic family as his brother Jay played college baseball at Rowan (NJ) University and his father Jim played collegiate rugby.
Jeremy Martinez, the Cardinals fourth round pick out of the University of Southern California, is a 5-foot-11, 200 lb., catcher. The Johnny Bench Award semi-finalist threw out 44.4 percent of attempted base stealers this season while batting .376 with six home runs and 42 RBI earning him first team All-PAC 12 honors. He was previously drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 37th round of the 2013 Draft. Martinez went to the same university as Cardinals scouting director Randy Flores.
Walker Robbins, the Cardinals fifth round pick out of George County (Miss.) High School, is a 6-foot-3, 210 lb., outfielder. The left-hander batted .477 with three home runs and 16 RBI his senior year, leading his high school to the Mississippi Class 6A finals. A two-way player in high school, he posted an 8-2 record with a 0.67 ERA tossing a perfect game and a no-hitter. He signed his letter of intent to Mississippi State.
Tommy Edman, the Cardinals sixth round pick out of Stanford University, led the Cardinal in runs (35), hits (61), triples (4) and stolen bases (8). The switch-hitting shortstop was First Team All-Pac 12 in 2016 and, as a freshman, was the Most Outstanding Player in the Bloomington (Ind.) Regional, winning it with a walk-off home run in the championship game. The 2015 Cape Cod League All-Star batted .318 in the prestigious summer wood bat league. A National Merit Scholar and AP scholar coming out of high school, he is pursuing a degree in Math and Computational Science in college. His father, John, was a four-year starting shortstop at Williams College.
Andrew Knizner (KIZZ-ner), the Cardinals seventh round pick out of North Carolina State University, was a Preseason 3rd-team All-American. The right-handed hitting catcher threw out 43.2 percent of attempted base stealers this past season and posted career numbers of a .312 batting average with 15 home runs and 119 RBI over three seasons. He was a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2014 at third base before converting to catcher, the first from N.C. State to earn freshman honors since current Chicago White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon in 2012. The CoSIDA Academic All-American boasted a 3.98 GPA in Industrial Engineering.
Sam Tewes (Tay-VISS), the Cardinals eighth round pick out of Wichita State University, missed the majority of the 2016 season with a right elbow ligament injury requiring Tommy John surgery by Dr. James Andrews on March 31. The right-handed pitcher was a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American in 2014 after going 8-3 with a 3.27 ERA. After making five starts posting a 2.42 ERA, he missed the remainder of the 2015 season with right shoulder inflammation. He was previously drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 22nd round of the 2013 Draft.
Matthew Fiedler (FEED-ler), the Cardinals ninth round pick out of the University of Minnesota, was the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year and a First Team All-Conference selection in 2016, batting .366 with eight home runs, 39 RBI and led the Golden Gophers in runs (47) and stolen bases (14). A standout on the field and in the classroom, he was a 2nd-team CoSIDA Academic All-American. He comes from an athletic background as both his parents played soccer at Middlebury College.
Danny Hudzina, the Cardinals 10th round pick and final selection of Day Two of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, ranked 7th in NCAA Division 1 in batting with a .408 average, hit four home runs, 32 RBI and 18 doubles. The First Team All-Conference USA third baseman began the season on a 25-game hitting streak, hitting safely in 47-of-54 games and struck out only 12 times in 249 plate appearances he was tabbed by Baseball America as the “Best Defensive Third Baseman in Conference USA” in their preseason ratings.
The Cardinals will complete the 2016 MLB Draft with rounds 11-40 Saturday afternoon.
2016 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT – RECAP
Rd., Player (overall pick) Pos. B-T Ht. Wt. School Hometown
- Delvin Perez (23) SS R/R 6-3 165 Int’l Baseball Academy (PR) Loiza, Puerto Rico
- Dylan Carlson (33) OF S/L 6-3 195 Elk Grove (Calif.) HS Elk Grove, Calif.
- Dakota Hudson (34) RHP R/R 6-5 215 Mississippi State University Dunlap, Tenn.
- Connor Jones (70) RHP R/R 6-3 200 University of Virginia Chesapeake, Va.
——————————————————–DAY TWO———————————————————————————
- Zac Gallen (106) RHP R/R 6-1 185 University of North Carolina Gibbsboro, N.J.
- Jeremy Martinez (136) C R/R 5-11 200 University of Southern California Fountain Valley, Calif.
- Walker Robbins (166) OF L/L 6-3 210 George County (Miss.) HS Leakesville, Miss.
- Tommy Edman (196) SS S/R 5-10 180 Stanford University San Diego, Calif.
- Andrew Knizner (226) C R/R 6-1 200 North Carolina State University Glen Allen, Va.
- Sam Tewes (256) RHP R/R 6-5 200 Wichita State University Lincoln, Neb.
- Matthew Fiedler (286) OF R/R 5-11 200 University of Minnesota Eagan, Minn.
- Danny Hudzina (316) 3B R/R 5-11 185 Western Kentucky University Palm City, Fla.
