4 Players the Cardinals Should Target in Rounds 2-3 of the 2025 MLB Draft
Credit: Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Cardinals will make three selections between the second and third rounds on Day One of the 2025 MLB Draft—easily their most draft capital in that range in recent years. After forfeiting their second round picks in 2023 and 2024 due to the Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray signings, they return this year with a second round pick and an additional selection in Competitive Balance Round B, which takes place immediately after the second round. Here are some names I’d like to see the Cardinals target in this range that I believe would be strong fits for the organization.
RHP Brian Curley - Georgia
Curley is one of my favorite pitchers in the entire draft. He’s a low-launch, 5-foot-10 righty with elite spin traits. His fastball, gyro-slider, and sweeper all average over 2,600 RPM. The fastball sits 95-96 MPH and touches close to triple digits, generating 17 inches of induced vertical break from a 5.4-foot vertical release height. In the upper third of the zone, it plays extremely flat with a -3.34 degree vertical approach angle. The command isn’t fully optimized yet, but when he locates it in the top rail, it performs very well. He also features a pair of secondary pitches that I believe project as plus and that he shows quality feel for locating. The better of the two is a hard 88 MPH gyro-slider/cutter hybrid with 4.7 inches of ride and 2.5 inches of glove-side movement. It was a big-time whiff pitch against right-handed hitters (48.5% whiff rate), and while it doesn’t generate the same swing-and-miss versus lefties, it becomes an elite contact neutralizer. Curley also throws a baby sweeper at 85 MPH with 8.6 inches of sweep, which was actually his best-performing pitch in 2025, though it was only used 14.7% of the time. There’s also a standard two-plane curveball at 80 MPH that he mixes in more frequently against lefties. Curley only threw three changeups all season, so he’ll almost certainly need to develop a viable offspeed offering in pro ball to round out the arsenal.
SS Antonio Jimenez - Central Florida
Jimenez is one of the toolsiest college shortstops in the 2025 MLB Draft. He rarely swings and misses in the zone, boasting an impressive 91% zone-contact rate. His adjustability on pitches out of the zone is so-so but definitely manageable, leading to an overall contact rate of around 80% on the season. He also makes plenty of impactful contact, with a .408 xwOBAcon (94th percentile), and even recorded a 115 MPH exit velocity on a home run this year. Jimenez ran a 108 MPH 90th percentile exit velocity, though the launch profile on his top-end exit velos are somewhat mediocre and not yet fully optimized to drive the ball in the air consistently. He’s a dynamic athlete and very well might have the strongest arm in the entire class—it’s an absolute bazooka. Defensively, he’s sure-handed at shortstop and does a great job using his athleticism to his advantage, though his fielding style can look a bit unorthodox at times, particularly with his tendency to field using only his glove hand. There isn’t much of a track record here, as he’s a draft-eligible sophomore who struggled quite a bit during his freshman year at Miami. But the underlying data from 2025 absolutely pops, and the all-around tools jump off the page for me.
RHP Cody Bowker - Vanderbilt
Bowker is a low-slot right-handed pitcher with some of the most intriguing release characteristics in the class. He’s a 6-foot-1-inch righty who extends well down the mound for his size and delivers the ball from a 4.6-foot vertical release height. His fastball is his calling card, living around 92 MPH (topping out at 95.4) with heavy arm-side run, averaging close to 18 inches of horizontal movement. He also gets 13.6 inches of induced vertical break on the pitch, which—combined with his release—plays well in the upper third of the zone, where it features a -3.15 degree vertical approach angle. The pitch produced a 31.3% overall whiff rate this year, and when located in the upper third, that number jumps to 39%. Bowker’s secondaries are clearly behind the fastball at this stage, and his arsenal isn’t fully optimized in terms of usage, though there’s some promise. His most-used secondary is a mid-80s cutter with a 7.3/-3.8 profile, which performs fairly well against lefties. He also throws a sweeper at 80 MPH with 13.7 inches of sweep, which he often uses to get right-handed hitters to expand the zone—and found solid results doing so. He also mixes in a changeup against lefties with 11.6 inches of vertical deviation off the fastball. It didn’t miss as many bats as you’d hope (26.7% whiff rate), but he locates it fairly well, and the damage on contact was under control.
OF Jake Cook - Southern Mississippi
Cook might be the fastest player in the draft—he tied the all-time 30-yard dash record at the MLB Draft Combine this year with a 3.50-second time. He’s a sure bet to stick in center field and, all things considered, is widely regarded as the best defensive outfielder in the class. He uses his 80-grade speed to cover a ton of ground in the outfield and pairs that range with an above-average throwing arm. Cook also brings elite bat-to-ball skills to the table, posting a 90.3% overall contact rate and an 84.9% out-of-zone contact rate which is in the 99th percentile. While he didn’t face the best competition consistently in the Sun Belt Conference, he held his own when he did go up against premium stuff. He has a polished approach at the dish and only swings at competitive pitches he can handle. The rest of the offensive profile is more of a question mark. Cook made hard contact (95+ MPH exit velocity) just 25% of the time this season. As expected, his launch profile is geared toward spray contact, but the batted ball distribution is a bit more ground-heavy than you'd like. He has a wiry 6-foot-3 frame, and while there may be some untapped bat speed with pro development, I don’t foresee him hitting for much power at the next level. Despite the 80-grade wheels, Cook stole just 3 bases in 2025 and was caught 5 times. Unlocking more value on the bases will be important if he’s going to maximize his offensive impact.
