SAN DIEGO – San Diego State pitcher Xavier Cardenas III was chosen by the Miami Marlins in 17th round of the MLB Player Draft on Monday in advance of the MLB All-Star Game at Truist Park in Cumberland, Georgia.
Cardenas was selected by the Marlins with the third pick of the 17th round and 498th overall, giving the Aztecs 228 MLB Draft choices since 1965 and 32 selections since 2015.
A native of La Habra, California, Cardenas started 21 of 55 games across three seasons at SDSU, compiling a 4-12 record with a 7.19 ERA and 143 strikeouts in 134.0 innings.
During his junior campaign in 2025, Cardenas pitched primarily out of the bullpen, posting all five of his career saves, which ranked sixth in the Mountain West. The Aztec right-hander was also slotted third in the conference with 26 games pitched (20 in relief) and occupied the eighth position with 61 strikeouts, which ranked third on the squad.
On May 16, Cardenas helped SDSU secure a spot in the Mountain West tournament after earning the victory in the second game of a crucial final regular-season series at home vs. Washington State when he struck out eight batters without a walk in six innings, as the Scarlet and Black rolled to a big 15-2 run-rule triumph en route to the weekend sweep.
In addition, Cardenas fanned career-high 10 batters in 6 2/3 innings the previous week in another start at Nevada, as the Aztecs rallied late for a crucial 7-4 victory against the eventual regular-season champion Wolf Pack. Not to be outdone, he was also instrumental in the Scarlet and Black’s home sweep of UNLV in March, when he collected a save in all three games of a weekend series.
As a sophomore in 2024, Cardenas emerged as SDSU’s Sunday starter and led the Aztec pitching staff with a .252 opponent batting average, which ranked second in the Mountain West. He also topped the squad among qualifiers in fewest hits allowed (62), which was tied for third in the conference.
Additionally, Cardenas finished third on the team in strikeouts (58) and innings pitched (67.0) that season, finishing with a 2-6 record and a 6.58 ERA in 13 games.
A 2022 alumnus of Servite High School, Cardenas was rated the No. 6 right-handed pitching prospect in California by Perfect Game and the No. 15 player overall in the state for his graduating class. He also received a No. 42 national ranking for right-handed pitchers by the website and was listed at No. 138 among all players in the country that year.