Cardinals' Liam Doyle Is Making a Serious Statement in Double-A

The St. Louis Cardinals' rotation has some questions right now and a potential long-term answer down in the minors starting to really show what he can do.

Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy have all shown a lot this season. All have sub-4.00 ERAs right now with Leahy leading the staff with a 3.44 ERA right now. There was a point early on this season in which Leahy was struggling and some made the argument for St. Louis to move him to the bullpen, including us. The Cardinals made the right call keeping him in the rotation, clearly.

Dustin May was in the rotation, but he was traded away. That spot is Hunter Dobbins', at least for now. The other spot is Matthew Liberatore's, but he has struggled this season with a 4.97 ERA in 22 starts. On the bright side, he has started to turn a corner with a 3.48 ERA over his last six starts.

If the Cardinals are going to make a change between now and the end of the season, the most likely option would be giving Quinn Mathews another shot in the majors.

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St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Liam Doyle — Tennessee's Liam Doyle (12) pitches against Wake Forest at the NCAA college baseball Knoxville Regional final on June 2, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

For St. Louis, the rotation may have some questions right now, but there's so much talent down in the minors right now that there should be hope in the fanbase. For example, Cardinals No. 2 prospect Liam Doyle has been electric lately.

Doyle's numbers didn't look great early on this season. But at the time, there wasn't any reason for concern. He was working on developing his secondary pitches. It certainly looks like that has paid off. Over Doyle's last six starts, he has logged a 1.88 ERA while striking out 36 batters in 28 2/3 innings pitched. On top of this, he has held opposing batters to a .198 batting average against him and a .297 slugging percentage. Opposing batters aren't making much contact off him and even when they do, it's not going very far.

Doyle was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft and is looking every bit as electric as the club likely hoped he would. When Doyle was picked, it was known already that he has a great fastball. If he didn't, he wouldn't have struck out 164 batters in 95 2/3 innings of work in his final college season. It took a bit to adjust to the Double-A level this season, but now he's starting to look like he's ready for Triple-A.

Beyond Doyle, the Cardinals also have No. 5 prospect Tanner Franklin, No. 7 prospect Brandon Clarke, and No. 9 prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje all thriving right now as well. The Cardinals have the pieces to have a very good rotation in the long run if they can keep developing these guys.

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