Where could the St. Louis Cardinals go with their first pick?

The 2021 MLB Draft begins Sunday night. Where could the St. Louis Cardinals go with their first pick in the draft tonight?

The Major League Baseball Amateur Draft starts tonight and as the draft inches closer, the rumors are starting to heat up.

It appears that the Pittsburgh Pirates are likely to take shortstop Marcelo Mayer with the No. 1 pick. There are rumblings that star pitcher Jack Leiter prefers to get drafted at No. 4 by the Boston Red Sox than any other team, even the Texas Rangers at No. 2. That’s just the beginning of it.

As for the St. Louis Cardinals, they are being connected to four names with the No. 18 pick: Jordan Wicks, LHP, Kansas State; Gunnar Hoglund, RHP, Mississippi; Will Bednar, RHP, Mississippi State; and Nebraska right-hander/shortstop Spencer Schwellenbach, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com.

In recent seasons, at least since assistant general manager Randy Flores took over in 2015, the Cardinals have shown a liking toward prep talent, especially players who are flying under the radar who also have a high ceiling. Katie Woo of The Athletic wrote a nice breakdown of the Cardinals’ recent draft history, which includes third baseman Jordan Walker, left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson and second baseman/third baseman Nolan Gorman as their most recent first round selections.

Said Jonathan Mayo MLB.com when discussing what the Cardinals may do in the draft: “A college arm like Bednar could come into play and the Cards could be a team that’s not afraid to roll the dice on Hoglund, but Bubba Chandler’s athleticism and legitimate two-way talents could be very intriguing.”

We will have answers as to what the Cardinals are thinking later tonight. But if Callis’ reporting is any indication, it sure looks like the team is strongly leaning toward bolstering their internal pitching depth.