Power-hitters Baez, Holgate taken on Day 2
The Cardinals go back to the Draft board Monday as the second day of the MLB Draft is underway.
After making UC Santa Barbara right-hander Michael McGreevy their first-round pick on Day 1, the Cardinals continue to replenish their pipeline on Day 2 in Rounds 2-10. Watch every pick live, and stay up to the minute with our live Draft Tracker, including player information, scouting video, sortable data and more on every selection.
Round 2, 54th overall: Joshua Baez, OF, Dexter School
Notable skill: Baez just has tons of raw power, and in more ways than one. His 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame helps him crush the ball, as evidenced by a home run he hit 414 feet to the opposite field at last year’s Area Code Games, and he has even reached 97 mph with his fastball off the mound as a pitcher. As a young player (Baez just turned 18) with that much pop in his bat, the fact that his game comes with plenty of swings and misses while trying to knock the cover off the ball isn’t surprising. That will likely be a focal point of Baez’s development as the Cardinals try to work him through the farm system.
Fun fact: Baez was born in Boston but moved to the Dominican Republic when he was still an infant. When he was 11, his family moved back to Boston. However, having been in another country for the vast majority of his life, Baez had to learn English -- he even has stated he had to use Google Translate in order to complete some of his assignments in school.
Quotable: "We had a tournament at UMass Boston," Christian Ortiz, cofounder of Next Level Boston Sports and the Boston Blue Jays travel program, told FOX Sports. "Joshua hits a homer like, 400 feet onto the JV field behind the fence. After that game, the head coach at UMass Boston, Brendan Eygabroat, came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I gave your number to Coach Tim Corbin over at Vanderbilt. He’s gonna call you about Joshua.’ I’m starstruck. The next inning, I got a text from Corbin. The next day, Tim Corbin came to our game, and obviously, Joshua stood out, and he ended up committing there to his dream school. Unreal."
Competitive Balance Round B, 70th overall: Ryan Holgate, OF, Arizona
Notable skill: Holgate can clearly hit the baseball -- he owns a .314 average and a .932 OPS with 19 homers in his three-year career at Arizona. In a 2021 season that saw him named a Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention, Holgate upped his average and OPS to .351 and .997, respectively, while he hit 11 long balls and drove in 56 runs. Time will tell if that pop will completely transfer to the pros, but his plate discipline will definitely help him in that area.
Fun fact: Holgate homered in the Wildcats’ College World Series matchup against Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker, who went 10th overall to the Mets on Sunday.
Quotable: “With Holgate in the Pac 12 conference, there's not a ton of swing and miss so far to his game,” Cardinals vice president of scouting Randy Flores said. “He takes a really, really aggressive path -- if you have a chance to look at any of the video of his swings, there is zero fear in the way he swings. When you see that type of swing path and aggressiveness matched with an ability to make contact, it's really something that's intriguing to our staff.”
Round 3, 90th overall: Austin Love, RHP, North Carolina
Notable skill: Love’s calling card is his mid-80s changeup with fade and sink, one that helped him to 210 strikeouts in 183 2/3 innings while with the Tar Heels. His 6-foot-3, 232-pound frame helps him keep his velocity up -- though his fastball has been better for him when it sits 91-95 mph -- and also helps him hold his delivery deep into games. He’ll have a chance to start in the pros, especially since his first season in North Carolina’s rotation saw him finish the regular season with back-to-back complete games, but many scouts see him as a reliever in the future.
Fun fact: Love recorded 129 strikeouts in his 2021 season. That’s the second most in Tar Heels’ history behind current Cardinals reliever Andrew Miller, who had 133 in 2006.
Quotable: “He’s our guy. He’s the definition of a horse. He put us on his back,” Tar Heels coach Scott Forbes told Inside Carolina about Love’s case for ACC Pitcher of the Year. “We needed him going into these last two series that we had to go 4-2, worst-case scenario, to finish 18-18 in the league, and we had a chance to do better than that when we swept Louisville and won that first game at Georgia Tech. We just could not get that second game. Austin Love put us on his back and allowed our bullpen to take a bit of a breather, because they had not been able to do so, and I think if you look at his body of work, he has been the overall best pitcher in our league.”
Round 4, 120th overall: Zane Mills, RHP, Washington State
Notable skill: Mills has the frame and peripherals to be a starter in the pros, but scouts have noted that his pitch mix as it’s currently constructed might look more like that of a ground ball-heavy reliever. His first year as a starter in the shortened 2020 season saw him go 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA. His 2021 season was a bit more of a struggle, as Mills went 5-5 with a 4.15 ERA, but he should get the shot to prove himself as a rotation arm in the Cardinals’ farm system.
Fun fact: With his teammate Kyle Manzardo already going earlier in the Draft as the 63rd overall pick by the Rays, Mills’ selection makes the duo the first pair of Washington State teammates taken in the first four rounds since 1991.
Quotable: “He just continues to get better,” Washington State coach Brian Green told cougfan.com in January. “He’s got command, he’s got poise, up-tempo. [His] big-sink breaking ball is one of the best on the team. And he loves to compete. He’s got a chance to pour through a lineup at times pretty quick. He’s got great stuff, and he’s really competitive.”
Round 5, 151st overall: Gordon Graceffo, RHP, Villanova
Notable skill: Graceffo was emerging as the Wildcats’ ace before the 2020 season was shut down, but he continued that momentum into 2021. He had a 7-2 record on the year, and his uptick in velocity that made him Villanova’s Friday night starter paid dividends as he struck out 86 batters in just 82 innings. The 2021 All-Big East Second Team pick has a fastball that is now up to 95 mph with good sink that he pairs with a changeup that helps him pitch to a lot of weak contact.
Fun Fact: Graceffo is the first Villanova baseball product to be taken in the MLB Draft since 2017, and he’ll look to be the first Wildcats product to make the big leagues since Matt Szczur, who was drafted in 2010.
Quotable: "From the day he stepped foot on campus, Gordon has embodied what any coach or program could hope for in a pitcher, a teammate, a student-athlete and a person," Villanova coach Kevin Mulvey said. "Gordon gave his best effort every time he took the mound and elevated himself and his teammates. It was a joy for me to watch and take part in his growth and development over the past three years. I am proud of him, and I know that all of #NovaNation will be watching and rooting for him."
Round 6, 181st overall: Alfredo Ruiz, LHP, Long Beach State
Notable skill: Ruiz won’t overpower you with a fastball that sits in the lower-90s, but his control and developing secondary pitches helped him pick up 59 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings in 2021. The All-Big West Second Team pick also has a slider in his arsenal. He projects to be a backend starter or a lefty reliever.
Fun fact: Ruiz was a two-time All-Area selection out of Sante Fe High School, earning First Team honors in 2018 and a Second Team nod in 2017.
Round 7, 211th overall: Alec Willis, RHP, Regis Jesuit HS
Notable skill: Willis is one of those Colorado arms that intrigued a Major League club enough to take them in the Draft out of high school. The big thing with Willis is that he is projected to be a powerful pitcher at the big league level. He stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs 220 pounds and has a fastball that already sits in the 90-94 mph range, making it easy to dream that there’s more velocity to come.
Fun fact: Willis graduated from Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Co., and he’ll attempt to follow in the footsteps of fellow alum and current Mets lefty David Peterson (Class of ‘14).
Quotable: “As the board unfolded, it [got] closer to ties, the further away you get from about the top 100 picks on most boards. And so for us in some cases, it turned into a tiebreaker,” Cardinals vice president of scouting Randy Flores said. “For Willis' case, it turned into, he was a high school player with some upside that was on our board that we thought we would have a chance to sign within range. Ultimately, [we] decided that, look, if he was a position player that worked, we would've done that, but it just happened to be that he was a pitcher.”
Round 8, 241st overall: Mike Antico, OF, Texas
Notable skill: Antico has blazing speed that could help him wreak havoc, both on the basepaths and in the outfield. Antico’s 41 stolen bases in his first season with the Longhorns ranked second in the country, and he managed to avoid getting caught stealing on all but five attempts. He could project to be a top of the order option if he picks up where he left off in 2021, as he ended the season with a .436 on-base percentage.
Fun fact: Antico was the starting center fielder for the Longhorns team that made it to the semifinals of the College World Series. In three College World Series games against eventual champion Mississippi State, Antico was 4-for-12 with a home run, a double and four RBIs.
Quotable: "I owe my life to these coaches. Coach [David] Pierce giving me the opportunity every day to play center field, it's a special thing," Antico told hookem.com on April 9. "I'm coming from out of town, different school or whatever. He hasn't had to stick with me through and through, and he has."
Round 9, 271st overall: Trent Baker, RHP, Angelo State
Notable skill: Baker has the tools with three different pitches that have made him very successful. His fastball can reach 96 mph -- though because it straightens out a bit the harder he throws, the low-90s might be the best range for it to live -- and he’s consistent with his slider and changeup.
Fun fact: Baker led the team with 13 wins, 106 2/3 innings pitched and 121 strikeouts this season as he led the Rams to the semifinal of the Division II College World Series.
Quotable: "When we recruited him, he played for [current assistant] coach [Adam] Foster in high school," Angelo State coach Kevin Brooks told the San Angelo Standard-Times in June. "He was an 84, 85-ish [mph] guy and a big guy. He threw strikes and didn't have a breaking ball. That's one thing we do pride ourselves in. We feel like we are the best in the country at developing players. We've done it for 17 years now. He wasn't on anybody's radar, and it wasn't like he was a prize guy. And he made himself into it, because he's put in the work and he's put in the time. He's just improved every day he's been here."
Round 10, 301st overall: Osvaldo Tovalin, 3B, Azusa Pacific University
Notable skill: Tovalin carried a hot bat in the 2021 season, as he batted .387 with 15 home runs, 10 doubles and 52 RBIs. He doesn’t miss the ball a ton either -- in 173 at-bats, Tovalin struck out only 16 times.
Fun fact: Tovalin’s older brother, Adrian, played for the Cougars from 2015-17. Tovalin had some big shoes to fill, as Adrian had produced the second most home runs (51) and sixth most RBIs (165) in Azusa Pacific history. Tovalin eventually passed the latter mark by driving in 176 runs over four years.
Quotable: “He also impressed during our workout here in Busch Stadium, and particularly his ability to potentially be a utility player,” Flores said. “We had him practice all over the field, including catching [and] infield, and he bounced well and looked very comfortable at multiple spots on the field. His versatility when he got there really made it almost a no-brainer, knowing that we could plug and play him at multiple spots, potentially.”