Liam Doyle’s Rise Looks like Huge Win for St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have an exciting young hurler on their hands in Liam Doyle.

Tennessee's Liam Doyle (12) sends love to the Tennessee fans after Tennesee defeated Wake Forest at the NCAA college baseball Knoxville Regional final on June 2, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Liam Doyle is now the St. Louis Cardinals' No. 1 overall prospect and it didn't take him long to impress with the new title.

Doyle officially moved into the top spot in the Cardinals' farm system this past week as JJ Wetherholt graduated from prospect status. The 21-year-old left took the hill on Saturday for Double-A Springfield and responded with arguably his best start of the season so far.

The young lefty struggled a bit in his first two starts of the season as he attempted to develop and work his secondary pitches into game action. Now, he looks much more like the young flamethrower the club drafted last year with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft. On Saturday, Doyle pitched five innings against the Corpus Christi Hooks and struck out eight batters and allowed two runs across 81 pitches. That's not all, though. There was a point in the contest in which he retired 11 straight batters. Plus, the eight strikeouts set a new career high for the 21-year-old.

The Cardinals Flamethrower Thrived

Sep 5, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of the hat and glove of St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Nolan Gorman (not pictured) before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Liam Doyle retires 11 in a row en route to a career-high eight strikeouts over five frames for the Double-A @Sgf_Cardinals!

Jonathan Mayo discussed the @Cardinals' top prospect and his elite fastball in the latest Inbox: https://t.co/Vj6FkTz8OB pic.twitter.com/vtsuEERiSb

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 10, 2026

On the season, Doyle has a 6.43 ERA in 21 innings pitched. That number sounds scary, but there's no cause for concern whatsoever. Doyle has been brought along slowly. His five innings on Saturday were a new career high for him as well. In his first two starts, he pitched just 3 2/3 innings total and allowed seven earned runs. That's going to skew his ERA for a long time, but lately he has been significantly better. He has allowed three earned runs and struck out 13 batters across his last 9 1/3 innings pitched.

That's the guy Cardinals fans should be fired up about. He's starting to find his footing and already is just two steps away from the big leagues. If this hot streak can continue over the next few months, a promotion to Triple-A this season is very realistic.

There was chatter before the season that Doyle could be fast-tracked to the majors. Right now, he doesn't appear to be very close to that level yet. But these last two starts have been encouraging. A late-season promotion certainly could be possible, but it does seem much more likely that he'll have a big role in 2027. Regardless of that, the way he's pitching down in Double-A is very positive right now and the fanbase should know about it. If you can get over to Springfield, it certainly is worth it to see Doyle in action.