Here are the Cardinals' 2026 Draft picks

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals entered the 2026 MLB Draft with more Day 1 picks than any other team. Ultimately, the club came out of the whirlwind first day with a solid prospect haul that maximized upside, with youth as a notable theme of the day.

St. Louis was one the few teams near the top of the first round to take a swing on an intriguing high school player, landing outfielder Trevor Condon at No. 13th overall. The Cardinals followed that selection with a collegiate arm, right-hander Tegan Kuhns, with the 32nd overall pick.

The selection of Kuhns marks a continuation of a trend that began for the Cardinals during the 2025 MLB Draft: a proclivity toward Tennessee Volunteer pitchers. Last year, the Cardinals anchored their Draft haul with two tantalizing Tennessee arms in Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin.

After only two of the Cardinals’ seven picks on Day 1 were pitchers, the team spent Day 2 stockpiling collegiate arms. Of the Cardinals’ 16 selections on Sunday, 10 of them were pitchers. In Round 8, Luke Harrison (Texas) represented the lone left-handed pitcher taken by the Cardinals in this Draft.

Kuhns, MLB Pipeline’s No. 25 Draft prospect, has some of the ingredients needed to pitch near the front of a Major League rotation. The 6-foot-3 hurler fires a fastball that can touch 98 mph and gets good carry thanks to its high spin rate. He complements that heater with a big curveball that’s clocked in the upper 70s. Those two offerings are already plus pitches, and they can get even better if Kuhns adds a little more power to them as he fills out his 189-pound frame.

Kuhns had an up-and-down couple of years in college. After posting a 5.40 ERA and a 9.5% walk rate across 36 2/3 innings in 2025, he was spectacular in three Cape Cod League starts last summer, highlighted by a 20:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He then showed much better control as a sophomore, slashing his walk rate to 4.7%.

Yet, after opening the year as Tennessee’s Friday night starter, a string of rough starts this past spring led to a short demotion to the Vols' bullpen for Kuhns. He had better results once he returned to the rotation, including a 15-strikeout performance versus Texas on May 8. Kuhns ended the year with 106 K’s over 81 innings.

Rocco Maniscalco, SS

• Round 2, Pick 50
• Bats/throws: S/R
• School: Oxford High School (Ala.)
• Calling Card: Having just turned 17 years old in May, Maniscalco was the youngest player eligible for this MLB Draft after reclassifying into the class of 2026. Despite his youth, he has a reputation for an advanced approach for his age, and was described by Cardinals director of scouting Randy Flores as a well-rounded player with “current” tools rather than a player whose value is solely based on hope and projectables.
• Quote: “If you have a chance to be around him, there’s a maturity to him. It’s someone who reclassified, not for fun -- it was someone who was on a mission to try to put himself in position to start his pro career as quickly as possible." -- Flores

Andrew Williamson, OF

• Round CB-B, Pick 68
• Bats/throws: L/L
• School: Central Florida
• Calling Card: There’s plenty to like about the raw power for Williamson, who scouts believe possesses a strong arm to match a potential move to right field at the professional level. But the Cardinals like his ability to pair that strong max exit velocity skill set with enough contact that they hope allows him to take advantage of the power.
• Quote: “Really unique in the ability to make contact, but do so with upper exit velocity. … Going just for exit velocity and power, absent contact, is very, very difficult to overcome. So, we were really thankful that those guys were there who provided a good combination of that.” -- Flores

Dawson Montesa, RHP

• Round CB-B, Pick 72
• Bats/throws: R/R
• School: West Virginia
• Calling Card: Montesa found more eyeballs on his four-pitch mix after transferring from Division II Adelphi to West Virginia for his junior year. Still just 20 years old, the Cardinals believe that due to his athleticism, the performance staff can tap into another level to his raw abilities as he develops.
• Quote: "When you look at the way the ball comes out of his hand, a little bit deeper analysis gave some conviction to our pitching development group that they had some levers that they could pull to get some better shapes out of him.” -- Flores

Caden Ferraro, OF

• Round 3, Pick 86
• Bats/throws: L/L
• School: Texas Tech
• Calling Card: After spending two seasons at Blinn (Texas) JC with a power profile, Ferraro demonstrated more aptitude with the hit tool despite jumping up to the Division I level last season at Texas Tech. His gap-to-gap line-drive approach produced a .374 batting average and a 1.085 OPS this season with the Red Raiders.
• Quote: “That’s a really hard thing to do. That level of competition, that’s a real jump. For him to handle it and then not lose his power, that was something that we did not expect to be there.” -- Flores, on Ferraro making the leap to Texas Tech from junior college

Dee Kennedy, SS

• Round 4, Pick 114
• Bats/throws: R/R
• School: Kansas State
• Calling Card: In 2025, Kennedy led the Big 12 in a stat that doesn’t necessarily endear a player to scouts at the next level, striking out 79 times that season. Of course, it helps when you can see the baseball. Kennedy’s fortunes have turned around dramatically following LASIK surgery. As a result, his contact and plate discipline improved with the Wildcats this season -- and instead of flailing at breaking balls, he showed an ability to hit spin with authority.
• Quote: “How about that story? I think we were prepared, and you’re always wondering whether or not that actually is going to make a turnaround in their performance -- but it did make a turnaround in his performance.” -- Flores, on Kennedy’s Lasik surgery in summer 2025

More on the Cardinals' 2026 Draft:

• 'Very happy to be a Cardinal': No. 13 pick Trevor Condon, club see a perfect fit
• Cardinals Draft Tracker

Rounds 5-10
For a club looking to add and develop pitching, the Cardinals focused on it in bulk to open Day 2, with four of their six picks in this range being collegiate arms. UCLA flamethrower Cal Randall draws rave reviews for his fastball. Harrison (Round 8) was the only left-handed pitcher taken by the Cardinals in this Draft, while the club added Derek Schaefer (Round 7) and Nick Bonn (Round 10) from the right side. Shortstop Owen Henne (Round 6) impressed in the MLB Draft League, while Jayden Lobliner (Round 9) joins the list as the Cards’ first catcher selected.

Player to watch: Cal Randall, RHP

• Round 5, Pick 146
• Bats/throws: R/R
• School: UCLA
• Calling Card: Randall has a 70-grade fastball, according to MLB Pipeline. He touched triple digits while averaging 97 mph with the pitch -- and throwing it a ton, around 89% this spring with the Bruins. Pitching as a reliever at UCLA, Randall’s heat trait could lend toward late-inning relief -- or could the Cards look to develop him into a dominant starter, a la 2025 second-rounder Tanner Franklin?

Rounds 11-15
The Cardinals’ pitching-heavy approach to the Draft’s second day continued in this range, with St. Louis stocking up on four more collegiate arms within this five-pick span. All of the pitchers selected by the Cardinals in this range were right-handers. Jaden Alba (Round 14) became the Cards’ second selection of an Arizona State pitcher on the day, following Schaefer in Round 7. The lone position player of the crop was Matthew Thomas (Round 13) out of Cal State Northridge.

Player to watch: Drew Horn, RHP

• Round 12, Pick 354
• Bats/throws: R/R
• School: Middle Tennessee State
• Calling Card: Battling injuries in his second season at Middle Tennessee State, Horn’s high ERA doesn’t reflect his potential. Despite physical issues during the campaign, Horn’s mid-90s fastball headlined his arsenal to produce 41 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings. In a healthy 2025, he posted a 1.75 ERA the previous year with the Blue Raiders.

Rounds 16-20
The Cardinals closed Day 2 of the MLB Draft by rounding out with a few more position player selections than we had seen from them earlier in the day. Three of the five picks in this group were bats. The lone third baseman of the Draft for St. Louis came in the form of Jacob Johnson out of St. Mary’s (Round 17). All five players taken by the Cardinals in this range are listed as four-year juniors at the portion of the Draft where signability becomes an interesting conversation.

Player to watch: Clayton Freshcorn, RHP

• Round 19, Pick 564
• Bats/throws: R/R
• School: Texas A&M
• Calling Card: Aggies fans will wait to learn whether Freshcorn will sign with the Cardinals as a late-round pick or return to school for his third season in College Station. Freshcorn shaved nearly two runs off his ERA out of Texas A&M's bullpen this season compared to his first campaign with the team. The Cardinals had to be attracted to his command, as he walked just six batters in 54 1/3 innings this season.