I haven’t talked or written enough about the Cardinals’ 2026 MLB Draft, so I want to make up for that today …
1. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has released his updated Top 10 Prospects list for each MLB team. And the Cardinals’ bountiful and successful 2026 MLB Draft is already reflected in McDaniel’s new ratings.
Here’s ESPN’s new STL Top 10:
– Rainiel Rodriguez, C
– Liam Doyle, LHP
– Joshua Baez, RF
– Tanner Franklin, RHP
– Jurrangelo Cijntje, RHP
– Leo Bernal, C
– Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP
– Trevor Condon, CF
– Rocco Maniscalso, SS
– Tegan Kuhns, RHP
Condon, Maniscalco and Kuhns were chosen in the 2026 Draft and the Cardinals received abundant praise for the decisions. That applies to their entire draft class – not that every player selected will make it big, or even make it to the majors. But McDaniel had a few other candidates for his Top 10 list that are part of the Cardinals’ 2026 class.
Wrote McDaniel: “I raved about the Cardinals' draft and now they've remade the back of the list, with some real upward mobility if things break how I'm expecting. RF Andrew Williamson (second round) and RF Caden Ferraro (third round) were late cuts along with CF Tai Peete, LHP Quinn Matthews, and SS Sebastian Dos Santos, among others.
2. Kuhns, the Tennessee pitcher, has draft evaluators buzzing. Baseball America put Kuhns on their list of 10 draft picks who “could be a great value.”
Wrote BA’s John Coppolella: “Kuhns just keeps getting better and better. He features a double-plus fastball that sits 94-97 mph, a plus curveball, and a developing changeup. Pitching in the rugged SEC and at his best down the stretch, Kuhns showed exquisite control and command, finishing with 16 walks and 106 strikeouts over 81 innings.
“Under Chaim Bloom, the Cardinals have intensified their focus on player development. Kuhns is still projectable with room to fill out, and he has the raw tools to be really good right now. As a strike-thrower with premium stuff, Kuhns is exactly the type of clay that player development and pitching coaches covet. If St. Louis can help him improve the shape of some of his secondary offerings, Kuhns can become an impact MLB pitcher in short order.”
3. Keith Law (The Athletic) is enthusiastic about the selection of Rocco Maniscalco, an Alabama high schooler who was picked in the second round. The shortstop was the youngest player drafted.
“Rocco may be the jewel of the draft class,” Law wrote. “And certainly offers the most upside. He only turned 17 in May and has the upside of a power-hitting shortstop with plus defense.” But Law believes Maniscalco will require plenty of patience and developmental time.
“He struggled quite a bit with contact this spring, especially early in the season, leading some teams to stop scouting him and pushing him from the first round into the second,” Law wrote. “There’s a lot of risk here given the swing-and-miss he’s shown, but he has the luxury of time.”
4. The best pure hitter chosen by St. Louis was Texas Tech outfielder Caden Ferraro, a third-rounder. More from Keith Law: “He had the highest max exit velocity and 90th percentile EV among all qualifying Division 1 hitters who had an in-zone whiff rate under 10 percent this year — that is, he didn’t swing and miss at strikes, and also he tended to hit the ball extremely hard. He may not have a position, which is why he landed in the third round despite just about every team chasing those batted-ball characteristics, but he should get a new chance in the corner outfield after the Red Raiders mostly DH’d him.”
5. Back to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, who explained why believes the Cardinals had the best draft.
“If it wasn't clear yet, this is probably my favorite draft class out of all 30, even acknowledging that it's easy to look good with extra picks,” McDaniel wrote. “I've written a number of times about how much I like CF Trevor Condon (first round). He's just the kind of player I want to bet on, even if he won't light up a workout.
“Let's run through the other guys I liked for where they were drafted. RHP Tegan Kuhns (comp round) needs a tweak to his breaking ball but could be a midrotation starter in short order. RHP Dawson Montesa (second round) has solid-average stuff headlined by a heater up to 98 mph and will be a starter if he can improve his fastball command one notch. RF Caden Ferraro didn't play in the field a ton this spring, but wowed teams with his athletic testing in predraft workouts after raking all season. SS Dee Kennedy (fourth round) has tons of secondary skills (patience, pull/lift to get to power, speed) and fits up the middle, so I can live with some swing-and-miss. RHP Jacob Haley (11th round) showed above-average stuff in limited innings this spring.”
6. Baseball America chose blazing fast right-handed pitcher Cal Randall as their choice for “quickest to the majors” among the STL draft choice. Randall, from UCLA, was the 121st overall selection. “Randall might be developed as a starter, but he’s a ready-made reliever with an 80-grade fastball that could push him to the majors quickly if that (starter) experiment is shelved.”
7. Kiley McDaniel also chose Randall as quickest to the majors and wrote: “Randall might only have one pitch but it's a really good one, that might be good enough to get big league hitters out almost on its own. Randall sat 95-98 mph and hit 101 mph with good lift from a low three-quarters slot and huge extension.
“It might be as perfect of a fastball shape as exists in the history of the sport.”
A major-league scout told McDaniel that if the Cardinals “get him in the zone consistently, he's in the bigs tomorrow."
“I'm kind of shocked the league left Randall on the board this long when half the teams will want to add a reliever for the next couple of deadlines in a row,” McDaniel wrote.
8. MLB Pipeline put the Cardinals at No. 1 on the list of teams that “crushed the draft.” Jim Callis explained:
“The Cardinals spent two of their top three selections on a pair of high schoolers: outfielder Trevor Condon (first round), who offered the best combination of hitting ability and speed in the prep class and might be the next Pete Crow-Armstrong; and shortstop Rocco Maniscalco (second), one of the youngest players and best defenders available.
“Tennessee right-hander Tegan Kuhns' (supplemental first round) stuff and strikes made him one of the best college mound prospects, while West Virginia righty Dawson Montesa (supplemental second) is an interesting upside play and UCLA righty Cal Randall (fifth) is a fast-track reliever with one of the best fastballs in the Draft. Central Florida outfielder Andrew Williamson (supplemental second), Texas Tech outfielder Caden Ferraro (third) and Kansas State shortstop Dee Kennedy (fourth) are all proven college performers.”
9. MLB Pipeline had Rocco Maniscalco on its list of “favorite picks” in the 2026 Draft.
“Close watchers of the MLB Draft Combine will recall him putting on a show in Arizona with multiple balls above 100 mph and an impressive defensive display at shortstop,” MLB Pipeline wrote. “Maniscalco faces some questions about his overall contact ability, but given his age, he will be a long-term project – and by all accounts a fun one – in the Cardinals system anyways.”
10. Here’s Adam Akbani from Just Baseball: “The St. Louis Cardinals entered the 2026 MLB Draft armed with an astounding 23 total draft picks, providing themselves with a golden opportunity to continue adding to their ever-improving farm system.
“No organization owned more selections, and St. Louis used its seven Day 1 picks on a variety of high-upside prep hitters, polished college hitters, and high-rising fastball pitchers. The organization shifted its emphasis toward the latter on Day 2, using 10 of its final 16 selections on college arms.
“By the end of the weekend, their draft class contained a compelling mix of high-upside prep bats, advanced college hitters, and college pitchers whose fastball traits will serve as a solid foundation of a more complete arsenal. Let’s take a look at each selection and see what makes them special.”
11. Akbani elaborated on the choice of Trevor Condon at No.13 overall.
“Condon’s appeal begins with premium athleticism,” he wrote. “His 96th-percentile sprint speed on the 2025 summer high school circuit gives him a legitimate chance to patrol center field as a big leaguer, while his 81st-percentile bat speed creates room for considerably more offensive impact.
“His swing decisions and contact results were above average against high-end prep competition but are far from elite. He ranked in the 63rd percentile in zone contact and the 66th percentile in chase rate on the summer circuit. Condon’s approach will be his biggest kryptonite as a professional, but I’m betting on his eventual power to buoy his offensive output should he slump.
“The largest swing factor (pun intended) surrounding Condon’s future development is how consistently he can turn his bat speed into damage. His 14th-percentile air-pull rate shows a glaring weakness to do damage toward a shorter field, and for a guy who presently doesn’t hit for a ton of power, this is a ruby-red flag, especially if he doesn’t grow into the kind of power the Cardinals are banking on.
“Trevor has the speed to be a pest on the bases, the range to handle an up-the-middle defensive position, and enough bat speed and rotational athleticism to become more than a defense-first center fielder. Even if the bat doesn’t develop as hoped, his athleticism and defense provide a higher floor.
“This is the type of pick a system with six top-100 selections can afford to make. St. Louis could target a high-variance prep bat because it had so many picks behind him. If Condon’s hit tool progresses and the raw power begins translating in games, Condon has a chance to become one of the defining players of the class 10 years from now.”
The Buffet …
— D.J. Short of NBC Sports wrote about the Cardinals’ trade-deadline approach and thinks John Mozeliak (Angels) has the goods to help his former employer in St. Louis.
— “The Cardinals will try to thread the needle between contending now and building for the long-term,” Short wrote. “Controllable starting pitching should be a priority for this team. The Angels’ Reid Detmers and José Soriano fit the bill and they make for an interesting match with longtime Cardinals executive John Mozeliak now overseeing things for Arte Moreno’s team.”
— CNBC released a report on “America’s 10 worst states to live in for 2026,” which looked at crime rates, air quality, healthcare, workers’ rights, and civil rights.
Tennessee came out on top, followed by Texas, Indiana, Louisiana, Georgia, Utah, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
— Bernie’s response: Shrug. I ain’t moving. I like it here.
— The Savannah Bananas, STL’s favorite baseball team, were blasted by viewers after opening the 2026 ESPY Awards on Wednesday night. The Bananas dressed in their signature yellow uniforms to dance, lip-synced and perform their trademark on-field antics. And then, mercifully DJ Khaled appeared onstage to take it from there.
— Bernie’s reaction to the combination of the Savannah Bananas, the annoying ESPYs, and some half-ass Broadway musical routine: Is this some new “Circle of Hell” that no one informed me of? Can I make an official complaint to the FCC?
— Tough headline in the always colorful New York Post: “Why Howard Stern should quit now and retain a little dignity, rather than flogging his dead horse of a show any longer.”
— Bernie’s reaction: Y’all should read my email.
— The World Cup is nearly over. Sunday, it will be Spain vs. Argentina for the championship. The tournament has been fantastic. But now comes the predictable and irritating part: MLS honks proclaiming the popularity of the World Cup with the U.S. as the primary host nation will lead to more awareness, fandom, tickets sold, media revenue and prosperity for the league. Heard that before?
“It’s starting to change. And it’s not going to change overnight,” retired U.S. star Landon Donovan told Front Office Sports. “If you look around the league, there are now lots of players who are in their prime. They’re not mega megastars like Messi, but they are good players, and the league has gotten a lot better. The problem is the perception still remains that the league is what it was before.”
— I’ll co-sign on this: During a recent interview with BBC 6 Music, Dave Grohl (“Foo Fighters”) named the Pixies' 1988 album Surfer Rosa as a ‘perfect’ record, praising its production, songwriting, and vocal chemistry.”
— Wanna take a day trip? A nice drive? This from Travel & Leisure: “Rain or shine, you’ll always get a fantastic view of Grand Falls in Joplin,” said Stephen Foutes, director of the Missouri Division of Tourism. “Grand Falls is the state’s largest continuously flowing waterfall, and it’s formed from a 163-foot-wide ledge of solid chert. Along with being a naturally scenic and beautiful stop, it’s not far from Route 66, making it a must-see for road trippers.”
— Bernie’s reaction: another reason why Missouri should not be on any bottom 10 lists.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015.
Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach.
Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Keith Tkachuk, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams.
Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball.
Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STLSportsCentral, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows.
And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.