ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals filled a need and followed history in the 2019 MLB Draft.

With eight of their first 10 picks, the Cardinals drafted college pitchers, staying true to form as the organization has a long history developing strong-armed collegians into impactful pitchers in St. Louis.

After Day 2, the Cardinals pivoted slightly from their pitcher strategy, but not too dramatically: 17 of the 29 players drafted were pitchers, with 14 of those college-proven. Along with the pitchers, there were six outfielders, five catchers and five infielders drafted by the Cardinals throughout the three days.

Now, the scouting department hands off 40 new Cardinals to the player-development side. The draftees will head to the Cardinals’ facility in Jupiter, Fla., for physicals before going to their various affiliates.

“The next three months is just about acclimating them to what it’s like to play professional ball while making sure we’re not re-evaluating them now,” Cardinals scouting director Randy Flores said. “They’ve already been drafted. We already see something in them. So now it’s about giving them their first taste of what professional life is like, and getting them ready to ramp up at full strength next year.”

The trend in the Cardinals’ Draft, especially in the first two days, was to find players the development team could sharpen. Specifically, that meant seasoned college pitchers.

Kentucky left-hander Zack Thompson was the Cardinals’ first-round pick at No. 19. A top college pitcher out of the Southeastern Conference and a potential quick-riser, Thompson had some injury concerns but believes those are behind him. He pitched 90 innings in 14 starts with a 2.40 ERA this year, including complete games against Georgia and Florida. He has the arm to be a mid-rotation starter and will be developed as such.

Georgia right-hander Tony Locey, the Cardinals’ third-round pick, has the arm to be a starter or a reliever. Both SEC pitchers have the velocity and workload St. Louis hopes to continue to craft in the farm system.

Much of that crafting now falls on director of player development Gary LaRocque and senior pitching coordinator Tim Leveque.

“They do wonders,” Flores said. “Our job is to try to pick players that they can continue to hone. Often times, they see things in the players that we didn’t see because they’re around the players so much. Our hope is that we gave them good starting points, and then let them find the things -- pitch, selection, delivery, reps. It’s now their turn. They’ve made improvements in countless players.”

Sandwiched between the two top college pitchers was high school phenom Trejyn Fletcher, a center fielder from Deering (Maine) High School. Fletcher reclassified as a senior this year when he moved and became draft-eligible, but he is committed to Vanderbilt.

The way the Cardinals strategized the second and third days of the Draft, though, with the ability to sign some players under their slot value, they remain confident Fletcher will sign.

St. Louis has a bonus pool of $6,903,500 this year. The deadline to sign players is July 12 at 4 p.m. CT.

Worth noting

• Georgia prep right-hander Alexander McFarlane, drafted Round 25, was ranked No. 115 on MLB Pipeline’s Draft prospect list. He is known to have a pretty strong commitment to Miami. The same goes for Pennsylvania prep outfielder Chris Newell, who was projected to go as high as the third round. He dropped to Round 37 and has a commitment to the University of Virginia.

“We had notes on [Newell] from the summer that we just really loved his swing,” Flores said. “We thought that there was a good chance for him to recognize spin. He’s very physical, left-handed. We did like him.”

• Among the locals drafted by the Cardinals were Missouri right-hander Cameron Dulle (Round 30), Jefferson College right-hander Anthony Green (Round 33) and catcher Kurtis Byrne (Round 38), who attended Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis.

“If there’s a local guy, you think, ‘Look, we like this guy. We’ll follow him for a few years, and know that we were following him for a few years, and be a champion of his,’” Flores said. “Other times, it is a tiebreaker scenario, and if it is, you think, ‘Let’s see what happens. Roll the dice on one of our own.’ It’s a bit of a mix.”

• Outfielder David Vinsky, the Cardinals’ Round 15 pick, became the first Northwood University player chosen in the MLB Draft.