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

2021 - Michael McGreevy

Even at the time of the selection, a lot of Cardinal fans were not thrilled with the Michael McGreevy pick. Another low-ceiling college arm who is pitch-to-contact oriented was not going to get a lot of rave reviews for the Cardinals' front office.

McGreevy is in his second season of Triple-A action this season, and although he could perhaps find himself at the back end of a rotation one day, the 24-year-old seems destined for a bullpen role at best long-term. Over the course of the past two seasons he has spent with the Memphis Redbirds, McGreevy has posted a 4.58 ERA in 42 starts with a below-average strikeout rate, even against minor-league hitting.

McGreevy has been trying to make adjustments to his arsenal to unlock his ability on the mound, but I have little confidence that McGreevy will be one of the pitching prospects the Cardinals rely on long-term, and that is a frustrating statement when he was a first-round pick.

Some names of note who were drafted after McGreevy (who was selected at pick 18) are Colson Montgomery, Jackson Merrill, Connor Norby, Andrew Abbott, Zack Gelof, and James Wood. There were other significant names even further down the class, but at that point, you can easily argue every team missed on those guys multiple times, so it's not worth saying they could've had Mason Miller when he went 97th overall.

This is one of the picks Mozeliak must be referring to when he said that Flores needs to produce in this draft class, as it arguably is one of the worst picks he has made since taking over the draft and scouting side of things.

Grade: D