St. Louis Cardinals’ MLB Draft Preview: Cody Sedlock

The St. Louis Cardinals are approaching the 2016 Draft and will have two picks to work with in the supplemental round as compensation for losing two players to the rival Chicago Cubs. One player they may target is a semi-local pitcher.

With the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2016 Draft fastly approaching, it’s time we take a look at a pitcher that I admittedly should know quite a bit more about. This player is Cody Sedlock out of the University of Illinois, Illinois is where my college sports allegiances lie and as most would know the baseball team isn’t very accessible, so it makes it hard on a casual fan.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that Sedlock is absolutely a likely target for the Cardinals as we approach the draft. Sedlock absolutely falls in line with guys like Luke Weaver, Michael Wacha, and Marco Gonzales. Meaning he’s a polished D1 college pitcher who could be ready to move through the system at a fast pace.

SP Cody Sedlcok

Age: 20

Hits/Throws: R/R

School: University of Illinois

Scout Grades: N/A

What do we know:

Sedlock has been the latest addition of fantastic Illinois pitchers as last season saw Tyler Jay, Kevin Duchene, and Drasen Johnson all selected in the 2015 MLB Draft. It is kind of nice having a previously irrelevant school in terms of college baseball suddenly relevant again. While the school has had some concerns with some of the allegations in the athletic department, the majority of the athletic programs are on the upswing there.

As Sedlock had three great pitchers ahead of him it took him until this year for Sedlock to make the Illini rotation. Sedlock has not disappointed as he has gone 5-3 with a 2.49 ERA in 14 starts. Impressively, he has held his opponents to an average of just .219 this year, that is pretty impressive no matter which way you look at it.

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Sedlock is a four-pitch pitcher, as he features a low to mid-90s sinking fastball that Red Baron of Viva El Birdos describes as his best pitch and a “60 pitch easy, maybe a touch better if you catch him on the right day”. Sedlock also features a slider that River Ave Blues describes as “a legitimate swing-and-miss offering on its best days”.

He features a solid curveball as well that will likely develop with more experience and coaching at the minor league level. Sedlock described his offspeed repertoire to Baseball America by saying, “It honestly depends on the day. For example, against Maryland (on May 7), my curveball was my plus offspeed pitch. Other days, it’s my slider.”

Sedlock features a changeup as well that most describe as a pitch that needs some work. Sedlock recognizes this as he told Baseball America “One thing I want to do is work on my changeup more”.

Red Baron believes that this pitch could become yet another plus pitch in his arsenal, he describes it this way “He sells it with good arm speed, and it tumbles, dropping down in a forkball/splitter type fashion when it’s good, but hanging more often than you would like”. He also mentions that at times this can be a 60 grade pitch for Sedlock, but overall it is at probably a 45.

Next: MLB Draft Preview Part 1

While Sedlock features a pretty nice repertoire, surprisingly most don’t slate Sedlock to be picked in teh first round of the draft. This is good news for the Cardinals if they go position player with their first pick. This would mean that Sedlock should be available for one of their two supplemental picks.