St. Louis Cardinals’ 2016 Top Prospects: #28 Ian Oxnevad

The latest St. Louis Cardinals’ prospect is here and ready to be followed religiously by fans.

Welcome to the latest edition of our Top Prospects series, where we are covering the top 30 prospects in the St. Louis Cardinals’ system. Today we are covering someone who is a bit of an over slot in the list, but is someone that I am very high on.

He may not be ranked this high on other lists, but with the departure of top prospect Luis Perdomo in the Rule 5 draft, there was an opening in the top 30 for the 2015 draftee, Ian Oxnevad.

#28 Ian Oxnevad

Season Stats

LevWLW-L%ERAGGSIPHRERHRBBIBBSOHBPWPWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9SO/W
Rk11.5002.428726.0239718016121.1928.00.32.85.52.00

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Analayis

What I really like about Oxnevad, is the mentality he has on the mound and his toughness at such a young age. Not only that, but he’s got the stuff to go along with it.

Oxnevad really reminds me of a less refined and more athletic Tim Cooney or Marco Gonzales. Someone, who has a legitimate shot at the rotation in four or five years.

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I had the chance to interview Oxnevad after the draft, and he was nothing but class. The kid has the right heart and right attitude, and I think with some seasoning he could become a real crafty lefty throughout his career.

Ox (as he is called by his friends and teammates) is a three pitch pitcher (Fastball, Slider, and Changeup) and has pretty good stuff as a tall and athletic left-hander standing in at 6’4 200 lbs.

Ox, as I have mentioned before, has that knack for pitching that most his age don’t have. That will only help him as he moves through the system.Give him time to develop his repertoire some and we could be looking at yet another dark horse left handed pitcher in this system.

Another reason that makes me think of Oxnevad so high is the fact the organization went way over slot to sign the 8th round draft pick (according to Brian Walton), who had some questions about signability.

The lefty signed for a bonus of $500,000, as opposed to the slot value of $167,400. Which makes you look at Oxnevad differently than you would any other 8th round draft pick.

Next: St. Louis Cardinals' 2016 Top 30 Prospects: #29 Ronnie Williams

Roster Prediction 

A- Johnson City

Given Oxnevad’s age and inexperience, he most assuredly will start off at a short season club, with Johnson City likely being the destination.