Cardinals Prospect Cracks Insider’s Top 100 Rankings

There is a lot of upside here.

Sep 11, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; A detailed view of the 9/11 ribbon on a St. Louis Cardinals hat in the dugout before the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals may be rebuilding and taking a step back from contention, but that doesn't mean that there aren't still small victories to celebrate.

Despite trading away some veteran stars this winter, Chaim Bloom has done a lot of work behind the scenes to strengthen the Cardinals' minor league system. In fact, they now have one of the top farm systems in all of Major League Baseball.

The past two years, they've drafted high, picking players such as JJ Wetherholt and Liam Doyle in the first round.

Doyle is the top pitching prospect in their system. Keith Law of The Athletic recently released his Top 100 prospects list, and Doyle ranks at No. 26.

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Liam Doyle Brings Upside for Cardinals

Tennessee's Liam Doyle (12) pitches against 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

"The No. 5 pick in the 2025 draft out of Tennessee, Doyle had the best fastball in the class, sitting 96-99 all spring and living up at the top of the zone with the pitch, missing bats over 40 percent of the time that hitters tried to offer at it," Law wrote.

"He’ll probably start in Double A, but don’t be surprised if he debuts this year as long as he stays healthy, with at least No. 2 starter upside."

The Cardinals took Doyle with the fifth pick in last year's draft out of the University of Tennessee, where he played under St. Louis native and current San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello. He began his professional career last summer and ultimately found himself at Double-A Springfield in the middle of a playoff race.

He has risen quickly through the ranks of the organization, and there is a lot of upside. Bloom's influence and the Cardinals' forward-thinking philosophy on young pitching has been on full display.

They have needed swing and miss from the pitchers in their system for several years, and they finally have somebody that can give them that in Doyle. For years, the Cardinals had been drafting pitchers that are more contact-oriented, but their new personnel and new philosophies have helped strengthen the farm system and turn it into one of the top systems in the league.

If Doyle continues his upward trend, it wouldn't be a surprise to eventually see him as part of the Cardinals' starting staff towards the end of the 2026 season.

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