St. Louis Cardinals: Cardinals 2020 MLB Draft Guide

Cade Cavalli, RHP, Oklahoma

In my opinion, I feel like the Cardinals’ biggest need is RHP depth in the farm system. There are already a few solid young arms but the majority are left-handers. The farm system lacks a stud RHP and it should be something hanging over Mozeliak’s head.

In Jonathan Mayo’s latest mock draft, he had Oklahoma Sooners’ ace, Cade Cavalli, going to St. Louis. Cavalli is an impressive right-hander with a huge 6’4 225 build and a ton of upside.

In 2017, he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 29th round but ultimately decided to attend Oklahoma; and now it looks like that decision is paying off as he will likely be a first-rounder in this years’ draft.

With his size comes easy velocity, where he usually sits at 93-to-95 miles per hour and can top out at about 98 mph. He has an effective repertoire with a nasty curveball as well as a solid power slider. His biggest weakness at the moment issues with command as he walked 35 hitters in 2019 and had his fair share of wild pitches and hit batters.

Cavalli is still sort of new to the position and has only pitched since his sophomore year in high school. He wasn’t even originally going to Oklahoma to be a pitcher, he was going to be an infielder, but switched to the mound after his freshman year.

Cavalli has tremendous upside and has shown a lot of growth as a pitcher over the past couple of years, but his talent comes with a price, which is command issues and a small injury history, where he missed time earlier this season with a stress reaction in his arm which affected his performance in 2020.