On Tuesday, Stanford junior infielder Drew Bowser went 596th overall to the Chicago Cubs in the 20th and final round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Bowser was the ninth and final Cardinal player selected in the draft, following Drew Dowd who went 243rd to the Tampa Bay Rays. Nine players drafted is the most Stanford has had since 2019, the last year the draft went to 40 rounds. The last time the Cardinal had nine players selected within the first 20 rounds was way back in 1996. So, this year’s draft really was historic for the Cardinal.
As a junior, Bowser batted .270 for 14 home runs and 48 RBIs to go along with a .512 slugging percentage and a .342 on base percentage. While not the most powerful bat in the lineup, Bowser was still a real threat from the behind the plate, contributing to one of the most electric offenses in the nation. Defensively, Bowser had a .964 fielding percentage and seven errors.
Given how late he was drafted, Bowser has a real decision to make. He could elect to go pro and begin his major league journey now, though if he does, he’s going to have the odds stacked against him given how rare it is for guys drafted this late to make it to the big leagues. On top of that, if he does come back for another season at Stanford and improves, he certainly can’t get drafted any lower next year. After getting drafted in the later rounds last year, Quinn Mathews came back and went in the 4th round this year to the St. Louis Cardinals, tremendously boosting his draft stock. While he might have the itch to leave along with the rest of his fellow juniors, showing some patience and coming back for one more year might work out in Bowser’s favor.
The reason why Bowser wasn’t selected higher is because there are some obvious things he needs to work on:
First and foremost is his fielding. Seven errors is not a good number for an infielder to have. He needs to show major league teams he can be trusted on defense. If he makes real strides in this area with one more season on The Farm, that in and of itself could really boost his stock.
Secondly, his bat needs to get better. Especially his contact hitting. His power hitting is actually solid, but he just didn’t get as many hits as he should have nor did he draw enough walks. He needs his batting average and on base percentage to improve.
In the coming weeks, it’ll be interesting to see what Bowser decides. This is one that could go either way. On paper, coming back for a senior season makes a lot of sense since there’s nowhere for his stock to go but up. But sometimes guys just have that itch to begin their pro careers and one certainly cannot fault for Bowser for making that decision if that’s what he ends up doing. One thing that is certain is that if he does return to Stanford, he’ll be welcomed back with open arms.
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