Cardinals' first pitcher selected draws comparisons to Cy Young-caliber starters

The St. Louis Cardinals nailed their picks of University of Tennessee arms LHP Liam Doyle and RHP Tanner Franklin in last year's draft and just went back to the well again by selecting RHP Tegan Kuhns 32nd overall with their Competitive Balance Round A selection. And me oh my, the comparisons for Kuhns have to have Cardinals fans jumping for joy.

Right after the pick was made, MLB Network's coverage team was extremely high on the selection by St. Louis, with former MLB pitcher Cole Hamels comparing Kuhns to Seattle Mariners starter Bryan Woo and renowned pitching analyst Lance Brozdowski dropping a comp to Toronto Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber. Bieber was a Cy Young winner back in 2020, and Woo sure has the makings of an eventual winner one day.

I don't think it is a coincidence either that both Woo and Bieber were drafted by organizations that new members of the Cardinals front office have strong ties to. Cardinals assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio, who oversees player development and performance, came over from the Cleveland Guardians, and he hired Matt Pierpont from Seattle to oversee pitching development.

MLB Network is far from the only outlet to really like what the Cardinals did with that selection. During Baseball America's instant reaction to Day 1 of the MLB Draft, they loved the Kuhns pick for the Cardinals, saying that he would have been a great selection in the mid-teens of the first round, and yet they were able to land him at number 32, emphasizing his mix of current talent and room to grow. Joe Doyle of Over-Slot praised the Kuhns pick and the Cardinals' entire draft, and more analysts around the game see a lot of good from what the Cardinals accomplished.

Tegan Kuhns may be one of the best pitching prospects in a deep Cardinals farm system

Upon entering the farm system, Kuhns now slots into a group that is already headlined by his college teammates, Doyle and Franklin, alongside the likes of Jurrangelo Cijntje, Quinn Mathews, Brandon Clarke, Jacob Odle, Cooper Hjerpe, Yhoiker Fajardo, Tekoah Roby, Xavier Cruz, Mason Molina, Brycen Mautz, Cade Crossland, Braden Davis, and Ixan Henderson, not to mention Dawson Montesa, whom the Cardinals also added during Day 1 of the draft.

For a team that has received a ton of criticism for how thin the pitching pipeline got in recent years, the Cardinals front office has brought in so many intriguing young arms, and that's not even including guys who've already been at the Major League level like Michael McGreevy, Kyle Leahy, Hunter Dobbins, Richard Fitts, Kyle Leahy, Matthew Liberatore, and Andre Pallante. Kuhns is just the latest in that line, but he easily could be among the best.

For me, Doyle, Franklin, and Mathews likely need to slot about Kuhns right now, but I think he easily has an argument to be the fourth-best arm in the system right now. But when you look at those arms, it's hard not to be excited about the depth of options, and over the next two to three seasons, the Cardinals should expect to see a lot of high-upside arms begin to impact the big-league club.

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