Grading the St. Louis Cardinals' last 5 first round draft picks

The St. Louis Cardinals are set to pick in the top ten of the MLB Draft tonight for the first time since 1998 when they drafted outfielder J.D. Drew with the the fifth overall pick. Tonight is a huge opportunity for scouting director Randy Flores and the rest of the Cardinals' front office to add a significant prospect to their farm system that could use bolstering.

The Cardinals are typically selecting in the bottom half of the draft each year, so it is really difficult to compare past picks to see what they'll do with their selection tonight. Still, it's worth taking a look at the last five first-round draft selections by the Cardinals' front office to see how their scouting and player development has done in recent years. John Mozeliak recently told a room of bloggers and podcasters that this is a "big" draft for Randy Flores, so the pressure is on him and the scouting department to nail this selection.

Here are grades for the St. Louis Cardinals' last five first round picks

2019 - Zack Thompson

Man on man, looking at the players drafted around Zack Thompson makes you really cringe at the pick, but overall, getting a big leaguer in the first round is not even close to a guarantee, so it's not a bad pick per se.

Still, when you consider the fact that George Kirby was selected with the very next pick, and guys like Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Volpe were drafted not long after Thompson, it's hard to get excited about the selection from the Cardinals.

Thompson made his MLB debut during the 2022 season and was excellent out of the bullpen, posting a 2.08 ERA in 22 outings. While it's fair to say that Thompson should have upside as a reliever long-term, the Cardinals have tried to maximize their selection here by giving him starting opportunities, and it has been a mixed bag, to say the least.

In the second half of 2023, Thompson joined the Cardinals' rotation and had some really encouraging results that caused the Cardinals to allow him to compete with Matthew Liberatore for the sixth starter spot during Spring Training in 2024. When Sonny Gray got injured and Thompson beat out Liberatore, he was able to be in the Cardinals' Opening Day rotation.

But after losing weight this past offseason and seeing his velocity dip dramatically, coupled with losing feel for his pitches, Thompson posted a 9.53 ERA in two starts and three relief outings for the Cardinals, ultimately being sent back down to Memphis where he is continuing to work through his struggles.

Ultimately, it looks to be a fine pick for now, and Thompson could raise that grade if he's able to become a valuable reliever or back-end of the rotation starter. But if we've already seen Thompson's best, this grade will drop further down in the coming years.

Grade: C-