The Cardinals spent the 106th overall pick on Sam Tuivailala.
Follow the jump for his pre-draft report.
Sam Tuivailala Position: RHP/SS School: Aragon HS State: CA Height: 6’2’’ Weight: 185
Bats: R Throws: R Birth Date: 10/19/92 Seiler Rating: 4C1 Commitment: Fresno State
Sam Tuivailala is a two-way high school player from Aragon High School in San Mateo, California, a large town about 20 miles south of San Francisco. Tuivailala is naturally overlooked as a NorCal prospect, but legitimate tools from both sides also helps to cloud where he might go in the draft. Two-way players, especially ones from high school, are always hard to predict, because usually players show a preference or greater skill level on one or the other side before the draft actually comes. Players like Tuivailala, which don’t show a clearly better side, make decision-making much more difficult, and he could turn out either way in the long run. There are scouts that like both him on both sides of the ball, and complicating things even further, some scouts like him as a shortstop and some as a third baseman. However, he projects as a number four starter or starting position player either way, so his ceiling is relatively equal across all positions. At the plate, he’s an average hitter that struggles currently with pitch recognition, and he adds in average raw power. He’s a solid-average to above-average runner with solid-average defensive skills and an above-average arm, so filling out is the difference between those project him as a shortstop and those that do as a third baseman. On the mound, he throws an average 87-89 mph fastball, but touching 93 is what got him noticed on the mound. He adds in a fringe-average to average curveball, and he hasn’t used a third pitch that’s been reported to me before. He’s expected to go somewhere in the area of the eighth to fifteenth round range, and that likely means he’s unsignable and will land at Fresno State and continue to play both ways.