Cardinals complete 2014 First-Year Player Draft; Cardinals draft 23 pitchers, 11 infielders, 5 outfielders and 3 catchers
ST. LOUIS, Mo., June 7, 2014 - The St. Louis Cardinals concluded the 2014 First-Year Player Draft, selecting 42 players including 23 pitchers (20 RHP, 3 LHP), 11 infielders, five outfielders and three catchers. The breakdown has the Cardinals drafting 33 college and nine high school players overall.
Three of the players are still playing in the Super Regional round of the College World Series. Players came from hometowns covering 17 different states and Canada. The top producing states had 10 players from California, seven from Florida and four each from Texas and Georgia.
The Cardinals drafted two previously drafted players with infielder Casey Turgeon (24th round) previously drafted by the Mets in the 22nd round in 2011 and left-handed pitcher Sasha Kuebel (38th round) previously drafted by the Athletics in the 31st round of the 2011 draft.
Two local players were drafted in Anthony Herron, Jr., (32nd round) a right-handed pitcher from St. Louis, who played high school baseball at Affton High School and Kuebel who played college baseball at Iowa and high school at Saint Louis University High School. Cody Schumacher (36th round), a right-handed pitcher from Missouri State University, was the third player with an Missouri association, but has a hometown in Kansas.
Several draftees have family members with athletic backgrounds. Justin Bellinger's (11th round, 1B) parents were both competitive athletes at Northeastern University, his father David played during the NFL strike season of 1987 while his mother Lisa was a competitive runner. Tyler Bray's (26th round, RHP) brother Colin was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the sixth round of 2013. His father, Scott, played baseball at the University of South Alabama and in the Expos organization. His mother, Donna, was a volleyball player at South Alabama. Cole Lankford's (27th round, C) father was on the track team at the University of Houston. Tyler Dunnington's (28th round, RHP) brother Jacob plays in the San Francisco Giants organization. Michael Bono's (35th round, RHP) father Vince was a goaltender and captain of the United States Military Academy ice hockey team in 1988.
Draftees with connections to the Cardinals organization and players include Langford who was a teammate of current Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha at Texas A&M in 2012. Matt Ditman, (15th round, RHP) was a high school teammate of current Cardinals outfielder Randal Grichuk at Lamar Consolidated High School in Richmond, Texas. Ditman made the conversion from bullpen catcher his freshman year to the Rice closer his junior year with a 5-6 record, 1.83 ERA and nine saves. George Iskenderian (35th round, SS) is from the same hometown, but different high school, as Cardinals first round pick in 2013 left-handed pitcher Rob Kaminsky.
The Cardinals drafted several players with athletic accolades this season. Jordan DeLorenzo (12th round, LHP) was 11-1 with an 0.93 ERA in 12 starts at the University of West Florida. He threw seven complete games and a school record four shutouts to go with a 30 inning scoreless streak, and was honored as NCBWA National Pitcher of the Year and an ABCA Division II first team all-American.
Chris Shaw (14th round, C) batted .383 with 14 HR and 63 RBI while playing for Midland College (Texas). The Canada-native from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was named to the NJCAA First Team and WJCAC all-Conference.
Dustin Beggs (17th round, RHP) led the NJCAA with 125 strikeouts at Georgia Perimeter College. Collin Radack (20th round, OF) was the first Academic All-American in Hendrix College history. Dom Thompson-Williams (19th round, OF) was a member of the Iowa Western College NJCAA National Championship squad and was a high school all-state baseball and football player named Western Iowa Athlete of the Year and the Gatorade Iowa Player of the Year.
Bryan Dobzanski (29th round, RHP) was a two-sport athlete at Delsea Regional High School posting a career 155-8 match record in wrestling to go with his two state championships including a 43-0 match record his senior year. Julian Barzilli (31st round, 3B) was ABCA All-West Region Player of the Year batting .387 with an NCAA Division III lead 17 HR, 52 RBI and an OPS of 1.342 and Chase Raffield (37th round, LF) out of Georgia State is the first two-time all-American in GSU Baseball program and ranked T7th in the NCAA Division I with 14 home runs in 2014.