Cardinals Predicted To Bring 'Elite' Lefty To St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals are about a month away from adding another high-end prospect to the organization.

St. Louis will make its first selection with the No. 5 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. Who will the Cardinals take? USA Today's Gabe Lacques predicted the Cardinals will land "elite" lefty Kade Anderson out of LSU.

"No. 5. St. Louis Cardinals: Kade Anderson, LHP, LSU," Lacques said. "The Cardinals are almost guaranteed to get one of the elite college lefties and in this universe, it’s Anderson, who has sparred with Doyle for the NCAA strikeout lead all year and will take his 163 punchouts in 103 innings into at least one more start, in Omaha."

Anderson is ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2025 draft class by MLB.com.

"Anderson had Tommy John surgery in April 2022 and missed his Louisiana high school senior season the following spring," MLB.com said. "Louisiana State eased him back into action last year as a midweek starter and weekend reliever, and he was lights out coming out of the bullpen in the postseason. By making a wildly successful transition to the Tigers' conference rotation in 2025 and leading NCAA Division I in strikeouts (145 in 89 innings) through conference tournament play, he established himself as the best sophomore-eligible prospect and could be the first pitcher selected.

"Anderson's fastball plays much better than its velocity (sitting 92-94 mph, touching 97) because it carries past bats up in the strike zone. He used an upper-70s downer curveball as his main breaking pitch as a freshman but since has switched to a high-spin mid-80s slider that has the makings of a plus offering."

He had a 3.58 ERA in 17 starts this season for LSU.