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Back on the clock for Day 2 of the MLB draft after using their first-round pick to take swing-and-miss lefty Liam Doyle at fifth overall, the Cardinals’ approach for rounds 4-20 kept them open to considering “all types of pitchers” when the draft resumed on Monday.

What that approach netted them on the final day of the 2025 draft was a class that features 10 college pitchers. The first three pitchers selected by the Cardinals on Day 2 possess fastballs that can get up to 98 mph or higher.

“I think that it sets the tone when you’re picking in the top five and certainly seems like, wow, that was a rush for swing-and-miss,” Randy Flores, Cardinals assistant general manager and scouting director, said via Zoom on Monday. “But that’s very rare to be picking up there and to have that type of talent. After that, what we wanted to do is just be open to all types of pitchers, not just certain types.

“... I think working together, we look for those opportunities that, rather than going in a little bit more of a direction, let’s just say, that is a little bit more typical for us, we wanted to go a little bit bigger and have the range of outcomes be a little bit wider but with that being something pretty special.”

Of the three power arms they took to begin Day 2, the Cardinals used their first pick on Monday to take University of Oklahoma lefty Cade Crossland in the fourth round. Picks of East Carolina University righty Ethan Young (fifth round) and Payton Graham, a right-hander from Gonzaga University, in the seventh round followed.

While Crossland flashed a fastball that got up to 98 mph and a change-up Baseball America rated as 60 on its scale of 20-80 to help him strike out 26.6% of the batters he faced in 2025 for the Sooners, Young’s ability to touch 99 mph and throw an above-average slider led him to strike out 30.4% of the batters he faced as a reliever in his lone season for ECU.

Young, 21, maintained an 11.2% walk rate in 70 1/3 innings as he made 22 of his 23 outings this past season from the bullpen, where he notched three saves.

A larger role could await him in the Cardinals’ system.

“Ethan Young was just a great example of us in position for someone who was missing bats,” Flores said. “Obviously, extended out, not just an inning at a time reliever, but he has a history of pitching in high-leverage situations and a ton of strikeouts this year. Someone we could stretch out if we so chose.”

Flores said the selection of the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Graham came in a spot where the Cardinals thought there would be “no chance” to take him if it were not due to injury.

A reliever in his first two seasons at Gonzaga, Graham had his third season end following one start and five innings because of Tommy John surgery. Graham struck out 21.3% of the batters he faced in his freshman and sophomore years. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound right-hander flashed a 98 mph fastball and was ranked as high as the No. 75 draft prospect by Baseball America earlier this year before his season was cut short.

“Our hope was that we’re betting on him returning to form,” Flores said of Graham. “Absent that injury, there’s no chance we thought that we’d have a spot for him in the seventh round.”

Along with the Crossland, Young and Graham, the Cardinals took Ty Van Dyke, a righty who reaches 97 mph with his fastball, in the 10th round. Kaden Echeman (12th round), Jake Shelagowski (13th round), Anthony Watts (14th round), Alec Breckheimer (16th round), Dylan Driessen (18th round) and Liam Best (19th round) were drafted by the Cardinals in the rounds that followed.

The Cardinals’ position player selections on Day 2 began with a sixth-round pick of University of Hawaii outfielder Matthew Miura. They also took infielders Ryan Weingartner (eighth round), Michael Dattalo (ninth round), Jalin Flores (11th round), Trevor Haskins (15th round), outfielder Cameron Nickens (17th round) and catcher Chase Heath (20th round). Heath, a catcher from the University of Central Missouri, is a native of O’Fallon, Missouri.

All seven of the bats the Cardinals took on Day 2 are right-handed bats. Flores said the handedness didn’t factor, but the traits they possess did.

“I think that’s just the way it fell. It wasn’t intentional,” the Cardinals’ scouting director said. “Each of them offered something at that spot in the draft that intrigued us. Miura is just a really, really good defender, a good runner, a good baseball player. The track record of Jalin Flores playing up the middle at a big school (University of Texas) was just intriguing there for us in the 11th round. Weingartner’s versatility, bat-to-ball.

“Those were more of the reasons than the handedness.”

They also searched for outliers when they reached the late rounds.

What Nickens did in his lone season at Austin Peay University checked that box.

After three years at the University of Houston, Nickens batted .422, reached base at a .520 clip and slugged .768. He set career highs in homers with 18, doubles with 24 and in OPS (1.288).

“You’re looking for that in any of these guys, and his almost a 1.300 OPS, the home runs started to come, we saw the exit (velocity) was something that we liked,” Flores said of the 22-year-old Nickens. “I think that at that spot, you’re taking a stab at something on the upswing. That’s our hope there.”