Cardinals predicted to land left-hander with 2.98 ERA

The St. Louis Cardinals hold the fifth overall pick in the 2025 MLB draft and will have some tough decisions to make. Whether it be Kade Anderson, Jamie Arnold, or many other top players that the Cardinals could select, they have to be smart here. 

It’s also important that the Cardinals hit this pick out of the park, as they want to continue improving their farm system. 

If Anderson or Arnold is still there at the fifth overall pick, that’s who the Cardinals have to take. Regardless of which one, either seems to be the right decision, as they have some of the best stuff in the country coming out of college. 

Just Baseball recently predicted that the Cardinals would land on Arnold, with Anderson going three picks before to the Los Angeles Angels. 

“The Cardinals have taken a profile similar to Arnold’s in the past, though that was a different regime, and Arnold is arguably a step better than Hjerpe was. FWIW, Bloom has only taken one college arm in his career (Brendan McKay).

“While Arnold has had his hiccups in 2025, especially with his heater, the track record is there. Arquette is heavily rumored here, plus Seth Hernandez makes a ton of sense here, even with the scary nature of his demographic,” they wrote.

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Arnold was widely regarded as one of the top college arms in the country, and rightfully so. He’s coming off a season for Florida State where he posted a 3.19 ERA and struck out 119 hitters in 84.2 innings.

The Cardinals would love to add another ace-caliber arm in the future, and Arnold projects to be exactly that.