2021 MLB Draft | Louisville Preview

(Photo of Rob Manfred: Alex Trautwig - Getty Images)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At long last, the 2021 MLB Draft is finally here. Mock draft and big board season is now behind us, and soon we will find out where the top talents in college and high school baseball will have the opportunity to start their professional careers.

While this 20-round draft will be half as long as it normally is due to the COVID pandemic, the Louisville baseball program still has several players who will likely hear their name called. One of which has a shot at becoming the highest drafted player in program history.

Among scouts, league executives and the baseball media, catcher Henry Davis is viewed as a top-five prospect in the draft. Thanks in part to his abilities both at the plate and on defense, many have him as the top college position player in the draft, and one who mock drafts don't have falling past the No. 6 overall pick.

Only two Cardinals have ever been drafted inside the top five overall picks: LHP/1B Brendan McKay in 2017 at No. 4, and OF Corey Ray 2016 at No. 5. Most mock drafts have Davis getting selected at No. 4 to the Boston Red Sox, so he has a chance to at least tie McKay for highest pick in school history.

After Davis, the Louisville player who is the consensus pick to be the second Cardinal off the board is corner infielder Alex Binelas. While he can be a bit of a streaky hitter and has some question marks on defense, he has some of the most raw power in the entire draft class. He will likely be drafted in either the second or third round, but very much has first round potential.

Behind Davis and Binelas, Louisville has a smattering of prospects who are almost assuredly guaranteed to get drafted, but are unsure as to when. The only other two Cardinals are are Top 500 prospects by both MLB.com and Baseball America are right-handed pitcher Glenn Albanese and middle infielder Cooper Bowman.

Albanese doesn't have a deep pitch repertoire, but he uses each one extremely effectively. His main knock will be his extensive injury history, as he has pitched just 35.1 innings in four years. Bowman was one of the more underrated, athletic and complete players last season, but does need some work defensively.

Related: 2021 MLB Draft Profiles - Glenn Albanese and Cooper Bowman

Left-handed pitcher Michael Kirian and outfielder Levi Usher are both prospects who had insanely high draft stock prior to the 2021 season, only to have it plummet following disappointing campaigns. Kirian began as a starter before being relegated back to the bullpen, and Usher struggled mightily at the plate. Still, given their overall body of work, both will likely get selected towards the tail end of the draft.

Related: 2021 MLB Draft Profiles - Michael Kirian and Levi Usher

There are some others who teams could take a waiver on, such a infielder Lucas Dunn, left-handed pitcher Adam Elliott and right-handed pitcher Luke Smith, but their draft stock is not nearly as high as the six aforementioned Cardinals. If the draft was the standard 40 rounds like in years past, they would almost certainly be drafted. However, with half the picks gone, their chances of being drafted have decreased significantly.

There's also a couple high school signees who could end up choosing the professional route. The most likely one is Trinity outfielder Daylen Lile, who is viewed as a consensus top 80 draft prospect. Right-handed pitcher Will Koger could chose pro ball as well, though he falls into the top 100-200 range.

The 2021 MLB Draft will begin with round one on Sunday, July. 11 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Rounds 2-10 will start on Monday, July 12 at 1:00 p.m. EST, and rounds 11-20 on Tuesday, July 13 starting at 12:00 p.m. EST. Day one will be televised on ESPN and MLB Network, while days two and three will be streaming on MLB.com

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