Cardinals News: Ivan Herrera rehab update, MLB draft prediction, All-Star finalists

The St. Louis Cardinals are looking to finish the month of June strong before heading into the heat of the summer. Here's a quick look at some recent Cardinals news.

Herrera progresses to running on the field

Ivan Herrera hit the injured list with a Grade 2 hamstring strain about a week ago but has already started to progress to running on the field. Initially, it was feared that the catcher/DH could miss anywhere between two and six weeks with the slight tear. However, Herrera took to Twitter to show that he is putting in the work with some light running before Thursday's game against the Cubs. The team has not provided

Cardinals select college lefty in latest mock draft

The MLB draft takes place on July 13, and the Cardinals select fifth overall. This year is the last time the Cardinals will be eligible to select in the top 10 slots since they had the seventh pick last year. Experts have been putting together mock drafts for the better part of the year, with predictions ranging from college arms to prep hitters.

The most recent mock draft put out by Jonathan Mayo has the Cardinals selecting Florida State lefty Jamie Arnold with the fifth pick. Arnold is rated as the fourth-best prospect in this year's draft, but the Cardinals have been mocked to take high school shortstop Eli Willits in other draft predictions. It is clear the Cardinals need a lockdown starter with strikeout potential, and Arnold provides that. The issue with the MLB draft when compared to other sports, though, is that those drafted will have some development to do in the minors. Willits has been an option for St. Louis in previous iterations of the mock even though Masyn Winn and JJ Wetherholt look to be infield options for a long time because of the development timeline he would likely face.

Arnold has a plus fastball along with great command of multiple pitches and looks to be a potential workhorse starter. If he falls to the Cardinals and he is selected, the minor league pitching depth will deepen beyond Quinn Mathews, Tink Hence, and Tekoah Roby.

All-Star finalists announced

Initial fan voting for the 2025 All-Star game wrapped up this week, and MLB announced the finalists for each position. Despite the Cardinals surging past preseason expectations with players like Brendan Donovan and Alec Burleson putting together great seasons, St. Louis did not have any players finish higher than fifth at their position.

Donovan was the best-performing Cardinal, receiving the fifth-most votes at second base, where Ketel Marte deservingly sits on top and former Cardinal Tommy Edman comes in second, despite Donovan outpacing Edman in many counting categories. Burleson was not even on the ballot, and Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, and Ivan Herrera were the only others to finish in the top 10. Surprisingly, shortstop Masyn Winn was unable to garner 185,000 votes, which would have put him on the leaderboard (10th place) at the position.

Every team earns a representative at the Midsummer Classic, and it will likely be Donovan who gets selected to the game. Burleson and Phil Maton could also gain enough push from around the league to be added as reserves. The All-Star game takes place on July 15 at Truist Park in Atlanta.