Grading the Cardinals' first 5 picks from the 2024 MLB Draft

On the eve of the 2025 MLB Draft, St. Louis Cardinals fans are eager to see what new names the club will add to their farm system on Sunday. With Chaim Bloom taking the reins from John Mozeliak at the end of this season, a new era of Cardinals baseball is coming to us, and in many ways, this draft is a big step in that direction.

The Cardinals had an exciting draft last year, selecting in the top 10 for the first time since 1998, and have now followed that up with some lottery luck that saw their first-round pick jump from 13th to 5th overall this year. The fruit of this year's selections won't be felt for a little while, but we can already begin to see how the Cardinals' selections last year seem to be faring.

The club made 19 selections in last year's draft, but today we are going to take a quick look at how each of their first five selections has done thus far and how we'd grade each of those selections.

1. SS JJ Wetherholt (1st Round, 7th overall)

Throughout the draft process, most scouts believed that University of West Virginia shortstop, JJ Wetherholt, would be going first overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, and even a hamstring injury during the spring gave organizations pause, he was still a favorite to be the first name off the board on draft night.

And yet, somehow, the now 14th-ranked prospect in all of baseball, according to Baseball America, slipped to the Cardinals at seventh overall, and they couldn't have been more thrilled with how the board played out.

After a great showing in Palm Beach at the end of 2024, the Cardinals were aggressive with Wetherholt, placing him at Double-A Springfield to begin the 2025 season, and even after a rough start to his campaign, he ended up raking his way to Triple-A Memphis and the MLB Futures Game this week.

In 223 at-bats for Springfield, Wetherholt slashed .300/.425/.466 (.891 OPS) with seven home runs and 34 RBI to go along with 14 stolen bases. In the three games he's played at Memphis since being promoted, he's already got a .909 OPS with a home run, triple, and double to his name already.

Wetherholt is expected to see a lot of time at shortstop, second base, and third base for Memphis and may even get some work in the outfield as well. There is a chance that he is up in St. Louis by the end of the season, but if not, he looks like he'll be on the Cardinals' Opening Day roster in 2026 and a contender for Rookie of the Year.

Grade: A+

2. RHP Brian Holiday (3rd Round, 80th overall)

Unfortunately, Brian Holiday has yet to throw an inning for the Cardinals' organization, as he was placed on the full-season injured list with an undisclosed injury.

The Oklahoma State product started 16 games in his final college season, posting a 2.95 ERA with 113 innings pitched, 10.2 K/9, and a stellar 0.89 WHIP. Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline have Holiday ranked as the Cardinals' 15th-best prospect, but that will likely slide a bit as some other risers in the organization are reranked.

Holiday's projected upside is a back-of-the-rotation starter, but more likely a depth starter for the Cardinals long-term. It's hard to be overly critical of a player we have yet to see pitch due to injury, especially when they are a third-round pick, but that, combined with his lower upside, will make him a dissapointing selection for now.

It is interesting to note that Wetherholt and Holiday were the Cardinals' only picks in the top 100 selections last year, but the club will have four selections in the top 100 this year. The Cardinals lost their second-round pick in two consecutive drafts due to signing Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray, so they'll have theirs this year, and they gained a competitive balance pick too.

Grade: D+

3. C Ryan Campos (4th round, 109th overall)

Drafted as a bat-first catcher out of Arizona State University, Ryan Campos hasn't exactly lit the world on fire with his bat thus far.

In 223 at-bats for the Peoria Chiefs this year, Campos is slashing .215/.357/.291 with one home run and 29 RBI in 62 games. He will need to turn that production around rather soon to catch the eyes of the organization, but it is important to remember that catchers can take some time to get adjusted to the professional game.

Grade: C-

4. LHP Braden Davis (5th round, 142nd overall)

Selected in the 5th round out of the University of Oklahoma, lefty Braden Davis has been excellent on the mound for the Palm Beach Cardinals thus far, and it's hard not to love what you're seeing from him 16 games into his professional career.

In those 16 games (13 starts), Davis has a 3.26 ERA with 97 strikeouts over 69 innings of work. He does walk a lot of batters, issuing 51 free passes already, but he's done a good job of limiting damage against him and opponents are batting just .179 on the season.

Davis won the FSL Pitcher of the Week award for the week of June 9-15 and may be in line to win another one this week after spinning six scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts on Tuesday. At 22 years old, Davis has plenty of time to develop, and if he can begin limiting those walks, good things may be in store for the lefty.

Grade: B+

5. C Josh Kross (6th round, 171st overall)

Once you get this late in the draft, expectations are low for what you're expecting out of draft picks, but Josh Kross has done a really good job this year and seems well deserving of the Cardinals' selection.

His 23 games at the plate in 2024 were nothing to celebrate, but 2025 has been a different story for Kross. In 42 games for Palm Beach, Kross slashed .244/.311/.488 with eight home runs and 37 RBI, good for a .799 OPS while catching games as well. Kross has since been promoted to Peoria, where his OPS sits a .768 and he's slugged six home runs in 30 games there.

As a switch-hitter, Kross has had a lot more success against right-handed pitching thus far, and if he can continue to improve against lefties, that will give the Cardinals a really interesting option to think about long-term behind the plate. While Kross is not near the caliber of prospect that Leonardo Bernal, Rainiel Rodriguez, or Jimmy Crooks are, he's someone to keep an eye on.