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

The St. Louis Cardinals have a top 10 pick in this year's MLB draft. Let's take a look at how their last five first round picks have faired for them.

St. Louis Cardinals v Oakland Athletics
St. Louis Cardinals v Oakland Athletics | Lachlan Cunningham/GettyImages
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2023 - Chase Davis

If Hjerpe is hard to grade this early, then grading Chase Davis is nearly impossible.

Davis was drafted by the Cardinals out of the University of Arizona as a power-hitting corner outfielder who looked a lot like former Rockies' slugger Carlos Gonzalez at the plate. Things did not get off to a hot start for Davis in the Cardinals' system, as he slashed just .212/.366/.269 in 131 plate appearances at Single-A. The lack of power, not hitting a single home run in those 34 games, was especially concerning for someone who you dream on the power of.

Davis wasn't particularly productive to begin the 2024 season either, but has gotten into a groove as of late, leading all Cardinals' minor leaguers in OPS, OBP, SLG, XBH, and RBI during the month of June.

Defensively, Davis could play some center field, but it is far more likely he will stick in the corners long-term, and he has the athleticism and arm strength to be a quality defender out there. The Cardinals have had a lot of left-handed bats come through their system lately, but the power Davis has from the left side is really only trumped by Nolan Gorman.

For Davis, production is going to catch our eyes, but the real test will be seeing how his bat-to-ball skills develop over the next few years and if he can continue to translate his power to wood bats. So far, it looks like those shifts are taking place, but he's still just 22 and in the lower levels of the minors, so there's a lot of room to grow. It's hard to grade a guy who has about 400 plate appearances to his name in his career, but so far, it at least looks like an intriguing pick for St. Louis.

Grade: B-

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