Sports

St. Louis Cardinals Draft Murrieta Valley Grad

Patrick Wisdom, a 2009 graduate of Murrieta Valley High School, was drafted Monday by the St. Louis Cardinals as the No. 52 pick in the first round.

Patrick Wisdom, who graduated from Murrieta Valley High School in 2009, was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals as the No. 52 pick Monday in round one of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.

After playing varsity for Murrieta Valley, Wisdom, a third baseman, went on to play at St. Mary's College in Moraga, Calif.

At 6 foot 2, 210 pounds, MLB.com had this to say about the right-handed 21-year-old Murrieta native:

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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.

A junior at St. Mary's, the college said the draft pick makes Wisdom the second-highest pick in the school's history.

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"...I knew that (the Cardinals) were interested, I was just watching the draft results to see what my friends were doing when I got a text from my advisor saying it is probably not going to happen today, and then he called back and said we are working out a deal with the Cardinals with the 52nd pick and would I sign there and I said 'Absolutely, get it done.' So my family and I just watched the television to see my name get called," Wisdom told St. Mary's.

Wisdom started in all 53 games this season. He finished the year leading the Gaels with 39 runs scored and nine home runs, the college reported. He was third in the West Coast Conference with the nine home runs.

Wisdom was a career .303 hitter at St. Mary's and third all-time in home runs with 29. He was a named to the All-West Coast Conference First Team in 2011 and the All-WCC Freshman Team in 2010.

At Murrieta Valley, Wisdom had a .345 batting average his senior year.


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