Baseball America has the Cardinals going college middle infielder again in the amateur draft in its latest mock draft.
5. Cardinals — Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest
We’ll talk about “profiles” a lot in today’s mock draft. In lieu of hitters teams are enamored with, there might be a flight to historically-safe profiles like no-doubt up-the-middle defensive players with contact skills. Houston fits that to a tee. He’s being viewed as one of the safest profiles in the class. While he might not have the typical upside associated with a first overall pick, his reliable shortstop defense and track record of making a ton of contact should get him off the board inside the first 10 picks. If he does, that’ll be three straight years for Wake Forest producing a top 10 pick. The Cardinals also seem to prize hitters who make tons of contact in the zone in recent drafts.
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