St. Louis Cardinals Conclude 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft

The St. Louis Cardinals concluded the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, selecting 42 players including 19 pitchers (16 RHP, 3 LHP), nine infielders, 10 outfielders and four catchers.   The breakdown has the Cardinals drafting 34 college and eight high school players.

Five of the players are still playing in the College World Series: pitchersDakota Hudson and Austin Sexton of Mississippi State, catcher Andrew Kniznerof North Carolina State, outfielder J.R. Davis with Oklahoma State and pitcherPat Krall (KRAHL) with Clemson.

Players came from hometowns covering 24 different states, Puerto Rico and Canada.  The top producing states had seven players from California and three from Alabama, Florida and Missouri.

The Cardinals drafted one St. Louis-area player and three players total from the state of Missouri.  Right-handed pitcher Robbie Gordon (36^th round) from Maryville University, is a St. Louis native who went to Ladue High School and threw the first perfect game in Maryville history on March 13.  Infielder J.D. Murders (31^stround), a high school draftee with a letter of intent to Texas Tech University, is a Missouri native hailing from Bolivar, a community north of Springfield.  Right-handed pitcher Robert Calvano (38^thround), a Kansas City native, played college baseball at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Three players had been previously drafted.  Right-handed pitcher John Kilichowski (kill-a-CHOW-ski, 11^thround), a 39^th round pick by the Cubs in 2013; outfielder Vincent Jackson (14^thround), a 23^rd  round pick by the Yankees in 2012; and right-handed pitcher Jackson Lamb (35^th round), a 20^th round pick by the Texas Rangers in 2013.

Several draftees have family members with either a Major League Baseball lineage or athletic backgrounds.  Infielder Brady Whalen’s (WAY-len, 12^thround) father, Shawn, is a Milwaukee Brewers area scout who played four seasons in the San Diego Padres organization and his brother Caleb was also drafted today, by the Brewers, in the 38^th round.  Pitcher Daniel Castano’s (KASS-tah-no, 19^th round) father Alex was a linebacker at Rice University.  Outfielder Cade Cabbiness (KAB-uh-niss, 21^st round) was a two-sport athlete gaining high school accolades as a wide receiver in football.  His father, Chris, and uncle Carl, played football at the University of Oklahoma in the late-1980s.  OutfielderMick Fennell’s (FENN-uhl, 22^nd round)brother, Jason, was an outfielder in the Chicago White Sox minor league system.  Outfielder J.D. Crowe’s (23^rd round) father, John David, played baseball and football at Mississippi College.

Matt Ellis (17^th round) was converted from a catcher to pitcher at the University of California-Riverside, the same college which converted former Cardinals, and current Red Sox pitcher, Joe Kelly from an outfielder to pitcher.

The Cardinals drafted three pairs of college teammates: pitchers Dakota Hudson (1^st round) and Austin Sexton (18^th round) at Mississippi State; first baseman Stefan Trosclair (STEFF-en TROSS-clair, 20^th round) and right-handed pitcher Eric Carter (26^th round)were teammates at the University of Louisiana, helping lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to a Sun Belt Conference Championship in 2016; and in a unique college/high school teammate tandem, pitcher Spencer Trayner (25^th round) was a college teammate of Zac Gallen (3^rd round) at North Carolina and a high school teammate of 11^th round pick John Kilichowski (11^thround) at Tampa Jesuit High School, the same high school which produced former Cardinals outfielder Shane Robinson.

Several draftees came with exemplary athletic accolades.  OutfielderShane Billings (12^th round) was an NCBWA 2^nd-Team All-American in 2016, batting .444 with an 1.141 on-base+slugging and stole 56-of-59 bases over two seasons at Wingate College.  J.R. Davis (15^thround) was a First Team Big XII All-Conference infielder at Oklahoma State batting .360, leading in hits in conference play (37) and hit for the cycle against West Virginia on April 3, the first Cowboy to pull off the feat since 2011.  Stefan Trosclairranked 12^th in NCAA Division 1 with 16 home runs in 2015 and hit 23 home runs over the past two seasons.  Pitcher Pat Krall (28^th round) leads Clemson in wins (10), ERA (1.67), appearances (29) and saves (5) this season, ranking among the NCAA Division 1 leaders in wins (T-15^th) and ERA (8^th).  Noel Gonzalez (29^th round) ranked 18^th in NAIA with eight saves helping Lewis-Clark State College to their 18^th NAIA National Championship.

The complete list of Cardinals draft picks can be found below:

2016 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT –  RECAP

Rd., Player (overall pick)          Pos.        B-T     Ht.      Wt.     School                                                       Hometown                     

1. Delvin Perez (23)                     SS            R/R     6-3      165     Int’l Baseball Academy (PR)                 Loiza, Puerto Rico
2. Dylan Carlson (33)                   OF           S/L      6-3      195     Elk Grove (Calif.) HS                             Elk Grove, Calif.
3. Dakota Hudson (34)                RHP        R/R     6-5      215     Mississippi State University                Dunlap, Tenn.
4. Connor Jones (70)                    RHP        R/R     6-3      200     University of Virginia                       Chesapeake, Va.

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3. Zac Gallen (106)                       RHP        R/R     6-1      185     University of North Carolina                Gibbsboro, N.J.
4. Jeremy Martinez (136)            C              R/R     5-11    200     University of Southern California        Fountain Valley, Calif.
5. Walker Robbins (166)             OF           L/L     6-3      210     George County (Miss.) HS                     Leakesville, Miss.
6. Tommy Edman (196)              SS            S/R     5-10    180     Stanford University                     San Diego, Calif.
7. Andrew Knizner (226)             C              R/R     6-1      200     North Carolina State University           Glen Allen, Va.
8. Sam Tewes (256)                      RHP        R/R     6-5      200     Wichita State University                     Lincoln, Neb.
9. Matthew Fiedler (286)            OF           R/R     5-11    200     University of Minnesota                      Eagan, Minn.
10. Danny Hudzina (316)              3B           R/R     5-11    185     Western Kentucky University              Palm City, Fla.

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11. John Kilichowski (346)          LHP        L/L     6-5      215     Vanderbilt University                     Tampa, Fla.
12. Brady Whalen (376)                SS            S/R     6-4      185     Union (Wash.) HS                             Vancouver, Wash.
13. Shane Billings (406)                CF           R/R     5-11    190     Wingate (N.C.) College                        Kernersville, N.C.
14. Vincent Jackson (436)             OF           L/L     6-4      200     University of Tennessee                      McDonough, Ga.
15. J.R. Davis (466)                        2B           R/R     5-9      190     Oklahoma State University                   Vallejo, Calif.
16. Tyler Lancaster (496)             C              L/R     6-3      225     Spartanburg Methodist (S.C) Coll.       Irmo, S.C.
17. Matt Ellis (526)                        C              R/R     6-0      190     University of California-Riverside      Riverside, Calif.
18. Austin Sexton (556)                 RHP        R/R     6-2      185     Mississippi State University                Huntsville, Ala.
19. Daniel Castano (586)               LHP        L/L     6-4      230     Baylor University                     Austin, Texas
20. Stefan Trosclair (616)             1B           R/R     6-2      200     University of Louisiana-Lafayette       Sulphur, La.
21. Cade Cabbiness (646)              RF           L/R     6-4      205     Bixby (Okla.) HS                             Bixby, Okla.
22. Mick Fennell (676)                  CF           L/R     5-10    190     California University (Pa.)                    Butler, Pa.
23. J.D. Crowe (706)                       OF           L/R     6-0      210     Francis Marion (S.C.) University         Birmingham, Ala.
24. Anthony Ciavarella (736)       LHP        L/L     6-0      180     Monmouth (N.J.) University                 Phillipsburg, N.J.
25. Spencer Trayner (766)            RHP        R/R     6-0      185     University of North Carolina                Tampa, Fla.
26. Eric Carter (796)                      RHP        R/R     5-11    202     University of Louisiana-Lafayette       Santa Clara, Utah
27. Mike O’Reilly (826)                 RHP        R/R     6-1      195     Flagler (Fla.) College                        Wading River, N.Y.
28. Pat Krall (856)                          LHP        L/L     6-6      220     Clemson University                     Downingtown, Pa.
29. Noel Gonzalez (886)                RHP        R/R     5-11    190     Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) College       Naches, Wash.
30. Josh Burgmann (916)              RHP        R/R     6-1      205     Vauxhall (Alberta, Canada) AcademyNanaimo, British Columbia (CAN)
31. J.D. Murders (946)                   2B           L/R     6-2      180     Bolivar (Mo.) HS                             Bolivar, Mo.
32. Leland Tilley (976)                  RHP        R/R     6-3      215     Bellevue (Neb.) University                   Exeter, Calif.
33. Caleb Lopes (1,006)                 2B           R/R     5-8      195     University of West Georgia                   Mobile, Ala.
34. Jonathon Mulford (1,036)      RHP        R/R     6-2      210     Adelphi (N.Y.) University                     Massapequa, N.Y.
35. Jackson Lamb (1,066)             RHP        R/R     6-7      214     University of Michigan                       Temperance, Mich.
36. Robbie Gordon (1,096)           RHP        R/R     6-2      205     Maryville (Mo.) University                  St. Louis, Mo.
37. Andy Young (1,126)                 3B           R/R     6-0      195     Indiana State University                     Fargo, N.D.
38. Robert Calvano (1,156)           RHP        R/R     6-2      225     University of Nebraska-Omaha           Kansas City, Mo.
39. Aaron Bond (1,186)                 OF           L/R     6-4      185     San Jacinto (Texas) College                   South Bend, Ind.
40. Jeremy Ydens (1,216)              CF           R/R     6-2      185     St. Francis (Calif.) HS                             Mountain View, Calif.