St. Louis Cardinals Have New No. 1 Overall Prospect

JJ Wetherholt has officially graduated from prospect status and now there is a new No. 1 prospect for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Apr 21, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

St. Louis Cardinals infielder JJ Wetherholt entered the 2026 Major League Baseball season as the club's clear No. 1 overall prospect.

Wetherholt broke camp with the club and has been excellent. Overall, he has played in 36 games for the Cardinals so far this season and is slashing .239/.352/.428 with seven homers, 18 RBIs, four stolen bases, 18 walks, five doubles and 28 runs scored. Wetherholt is just behind Jordan Walker for the team lead in homers. Walker has crushed 10 long balls so far this season, while Wetherholt has seven.

When Wetherholt kicked off the season in the majors, it was only a matter of time before he would "graduate" from prospect status. He now officially has. So, Wetherholt no longer is the club's No. 1 prospect. Instead, that title belongs to young flamethrower Liam Doyle.

Liam Doyle Is The No. 1 Prospect

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

Doyle was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the first round of the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft out of the University of Tennessee. Right now, Doyle is down in Double-A, just two steps away from the big leagues. He entered the season as the Cardinals' No. 2 overall prospect, so it's only logical that he now has the top spot.

The 2026 season hasn't been smooth for him so far, but there is no reason for concern. Doyle has been trying to develop his secondary pitches down in the minors so far this season, which takes time. Overall, he has a 7.31 ERA in 16 innings pitched. The 7.31 ERA doesn't tell the whole story. He has allowed one earned run in two of his five starts. He allowed three in another one. So, three of his five starts have featured three earned runs or fewer. He hasn't allowed more than four earned runs in a start, but the innings are low, which skews the ERA number. His last start came on May 2. In that game, he pitched 4 1/3 innings and struck out five batters while allowing one earned run and walking just one batter.

Doyle allowed four earned runs in his first start of the season across three innings on April 8. That has skewed his overall numbers. Plus, he allowed three earned runs in just 2/3 of an inning in his second start. In the three starts since, he's allowed six earned runs in 12 1/3 innings pitched. Doyle has allowed one run in two of his last three outings. Overall, he's just getting better and now he's the club's No. 1 prospect.