Cardinals Get Much-Needed Rebound From Liam Doyle in Double-A

The St. Louis Cardinals flamethrower is going to be just fine and bounced back on Sunday.

May 22, 2025; Hoover, AL, USA; Tennessee pitcher Liam Doyle (12) pitches against Texas in the third round of the SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If you're a St. Louis Cardinals fan who has been worried about No. 2 prospect Liam Doyle's performance so far this season down with Double-A Springfield, today is a good day for you.

Doyle made his third start of the season on Sunday and was lights-out. Doyle pitched four innings — his longest outing of the season to this point — against the Wichita Wind Surge and allowed just one earned run while striking out five batters. In comparison, Doyle's second start of the season came against Wichita on April 14 and Doyle only made it through 2/3 of an inning. That day, he allowed three earned runs and struck out one batter. But, again, he didn't get through one full inning of work.

On Sunday, he looked every bit the No. 2 prospect that he is. His command was good and he walked just one batter. His fastball played, and Doyle looked overpowering to the Wichita batters over 66 pitches, a new season high for him.

Final line for Cardinals No. 2 prospect Liam Doyle: 4.0 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 5 K pic.twitter.com/r8FUSqP5WB

— Springfield Cardinals (@Sgf_Cardinals) April 19, 2026

No Need For Concern With Liam Doyle

Tennessee's Liam Doyle (12) throws the ball during a NCAA Baseball Tournament Knoxville Regional game between Tennessee and Miami Ohio on May 30, 2025. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There have been many across the fanbase ringing the alarm bells for Doyle so far this season. But it was too early for any real concern. Doyle allowed seven earned runs across his first two outings of the season. But that was a sample size of just 3 2/3 innings pitched. He's going to pitch a lot more than that throughout the 2026 season. In fact, his outing on Sunday was longer than his first two combined.

Another thing that is important to note is the fact that Doyle, himself, has talked about how so far this season he has been trying to develop his curveball and sweeper. If those two pitches are a work in progress, of course the beginning of the season isn't going to be perfect, as well.

So, there's no need for concern at all right now, Cardinals fans. Doyle looked electric on Sunday. He looked exactly how the fanbase likely expected him to entering the season.

Right now Doyle is the Cardinals' No. 2 prospect, just behind JJ Wetherholt. The young infielder has played in 21 games in the big leagues, but he still is technically at the top of the Cardinals' top prospects list. Soon enough, that will change.

If the version of Doyle that pitched on Sunday, becomes the norm moving forward, we should see a big year out of him overall. He's 21 years old but already has been talked about as someone who could move up the system quickly. That's already the case. He has made just five professional appearances so far in his career and four of them have come at the Double-A level (one in 2025, three in 2026).