MLB prospect guru stomps on widespread praise of Cardinals' draft haul

The St. Louis Cardinals' draft in 2026 has been lauded across media as one of the best among all teams. MLB Pipeline's Jim Callis deemed their draft as tops in baseball, and ESPN's Kiley McDaniel also placed St. Louis at the pinnacle of his list. McDaniel is especially high on the Cardinals' first pick, Trevor Condon, deeming him the steal of the draft. But not everyone is that enamored with the Cardinals' choices. Keith Law of The Athletic appeared on 101 ESPN's "BK & Ferrario" on July 16 and poured cold water on fans' and other experts' appreciation of the Cardinals' selections.

The Cardinals had more draft picks than any other team, and Law called the Cardinals' draft "more quantity than quality," as pitcher Tegan Kuhns, the 32nd overall pick, was the only one of the Cardinals' choices Law had ranked as a true first-round talent, and unlike those writers who considered Condon, Kuhns, or Rocco Maniscalco to be great values where the Cardinals took them, Law doesn't believe the Cardinals had a "steal" anywhere in the draft.

The 17-year-old Maniscalco, whom the Cardinals plucked at No. 50, has had his name come up in a few circles as an exemplary pick for the Cardinals, but Law dubbed the people with that opinion as "out of touch," emphasizing Maniscalco's poor spring, where he was striking out frequently against high school pitchers.

Law noted that had Maniscalco not reclassified for the draft a year earlier and had he performed well in his hypothetical age-18 high school season, he might be a top-15 pick in the 2027 draft, but he said there were "a lot of hypotheticals" and that the Cardinals will need to take it very slow with Maniscalco.

Law also doesn't share McDaniel's giddiness regarding Condon, as Law placed the center fielder 41st on his pre-draft rankings but noted that the pick made sense when viewing the Cardinals' draft as a whole, where they rolled the dice on some higher-upside players in subsequent selections. He praised the Cardinals for balancing their draft well, noting that their mix of safe picks, swings for the fences, polished college players and high-ceiling prep players was exactly what a team with a plethora of draft picks should seek to obtain.

Law also held some tepid thoughts on a few current higher-level prospects

BK & Ferrario also waded into the Cardinals' current farm system with Law. Left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews appears to be knocking on the door to the major leagues, as he has recently put together several scintillating performances with Triple-A Memphis, but Law remains skeptical of Mathews' viability as a big-league starter, citing Mathews' difficult-to-repeat delivery, history of shoulder woes and spotty control. Law said Mathews' propensity to walk batters will likely limit him to being a "five and dive" starter of limited duration, or a sixth starter who needs extra time between his outings.

Jurrangelo Cijntje is a pitcher whom Law highlighted as one he's not giving up on despite an unimpressive season in Double-A Springfield, where he holds a 5.04 ERA in 80.1 innings. Law stressed that Cijntje needs to give up on switch-pitching and only pitch right-handed, as he's struggled with control when pitching as a southpaw, walking six of 21 lefty batters, who hold a .521 OBP against him when he throws from the left side. Cijntje does appear to be phasing out his left-handed pitching, as he's attacked the majority of lefty hitters by pitching right-handed.

For those who are looking for more of a bright side, Law's article in The Athletic (subscription required) about the Cardinals' draft class seemed to skew more positive than he did in his appearance on the radio. In his piece, Law said the Cardinals had one of the strongest and deepest draft classes and called Maniscalco the potential "jewel of the draft class," acknowledging the risk involved but saying he has time on his side.

Law's more subdued take on the Cardinals' draft when he was on the air was a bit strange given the praise he lavished in his article on the team's choices, but even if he doesn't want Cardinals fans getting out over their skis, there is still plenty to like about the draft that Chaim Bloom and company came away with.

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