Cardinals Predicted To Bring Chris Sale Clone To St. Louis

Who will be the St. Louis Cardinals' next first round pick?

Last year, the Cardinals struck gold by selecting infielder JJ Wetherholt. He has quickly shot up prospect rankings and is currently ranked as the No. 18 overall prospect in baseball by MLB.com.

St. Louis has the No. 5 pick in the upcoming 2025 MLB Draft. Mock drafts have popped up left and right about who could fit with the Cardinals. MLB mock drafts are difficult. The MLB Draft arguably is the most difficult draft to project in professional sports. Luckily, the Cardinals have the No. 5 pick so it's much easier than having a pick later in the draft.

So, who will the Cardinals take?

Just Baseball's Tyler Jennings and Conor Dorney shared a new mock draft and projected Florida State lefty Jamie Arnold will land in St. Louis.

"No. 5. St. Louis Cardinals – LHP Jamie Arnold, Florida State," Jennings and Dorney said. "Slot Value: $8,134,800. 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."

Arnold is ranked as the No. 4 overall prospect in this draft class by MLB.com and has even drawn comparisons to Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale.

"A left-hander with a rangy body and a loose, whippy arm, Arnold has seen his stuff tick up since leaving Jesuit High School for Tallahassee," MLB.com said. "Coming from a lower arm slot and flat approach angle, his fastball, which was 88-92 mph in high school, now sits in the 94-95 mph range and touches 97 mph, with a ton of life to miss bats. While his slider can be a little wide at times, the 82-85 mph sweeping breaking ball is a second plus offering that elicited a 41-percent miss rate in 2024. His changeup is his third pitch, and he doesn’t need it much, but there’s some feel for it.

"Arnold has shown the ability to fill up the strike zone and limit damage while maintaining his stuff deep into outings. With the funky arm slot, his stuff has drawn some comparisons to Chris Sale’s, a reason why his name will be mentioned in conversations at the top of the first round."

It's just a mock draft, but it would be an interesting move. Ethan Holliday is the No. 1 prospect in this year's class and seems like an easy option to go No. 1 to the Washington Nationals. The next three picks are much more up in the air. Then, the Cardinals will have a shot at their next star.