The St. Louis Cardinals selected Patrick Wisdom, a third baseman out of St. Mary's, with the No. 52 overall selection in the 2012 MLB Draft. Here's what MLB.com had to say about Wisdom:
Power-hitting college bats always get attention. With Wisdom, it will come down to potential vs. performance in 2012. Wisdom has shown the ability to hit the ball out to all fields when he makes contact. He has plus power to the pull side. The issue is that he hasn't been able to show an ability to make consistent contact to tap into that strength. Wisdom is a solid defender at third with a plus arm, with more than enough glove to stay at the hot corner. It all comes down to the bat for Wisdom. If a team thinks that his junior year struggles were an aberration and that he can find some consistency at the plate, it will see a player who profiles well as a run-producing third baseman of the future.
Octavio Dotel was a major piece of the Cardinals' unlikely World Series run last year, and with the bullpen presently a shambles some fans—even the prospect mavens—are a little uncertain as to whether doing without the veteran set-up man was worth this compensation. But a strong start to the minor league season would probably be enough to at least get us Future Redbirds readers off John Mozeliak's back.
The Cardinals have made four picks already, but this isn't over quite yet—the Cardinals have more picks to come as the 2012 MLB Draft rolls on.
For up-to-the-minute updates stay tuned to this storystream, or check out the analysis at Viva El Birdos.