Cardinals No. 5 Pick Liam Doyle To Begin Road To St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals have a very exciting pitching prospect in 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

The St. Louis Cardinals seemingly struck gold, at least on paper during the 2025 Major League Baseball draft.

Heading into the draft, there were rumors and mock drafts left and right projecting high school shortstops to St. Louis. Instead, the Cardinals selected left-handed flamethrower Liam Doyle out of the University of Tennessee.

Doyle was projected to be off the board by the time the Cardinals were on the clock at No. 5, so it was at least somewhat of a surprise that he was there for the taking.

Here's what MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo had to say about the pick after St. Louis landed Doyle.

The Cardinals No. 2 overall prospect is set for his professional debut

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

"No. 5. Cardinals: Liam Doyle, LHP, Tennessee (No. 8)," Mayo said. "One of the most dominant pitchers on the college scene this year while doing it in the ultra-competitive SEC, Doyle becomes the second of the college southpaws to come off the board. He does it with a bit of an unorthodox delivery and four pitches that are at least above average, helping him to lead all D-I pitchers in strikeout rate (15.4 per nine innings) in his third school in three years."

This year, he had a 3.20 ERA for Tennessee in 19 total appearances, including 17 starts, to go along with 164 strikeouts in just 95 2/3 innings pitched.

He hasn't made his first professional appearance yet as of writing, but now we know when that will be. The Cardinals announced that he is being transferred to the Class-A Palm Beach Cardinals to make his professional debut on Saturday.

"LHP Liam Doyle has been transferred from the FCL to Palm Beach (A)," the Cardinals announced. "He is scheduled to pitch for the Palm Beach Cardinals on Saturday."

There's a lot of hype around the young lefty. He's already ranked as the team's No. 2 prospect just behind JJ Wetherholt. He's the most exciting pitching prospect for the Cardinals down in the minors, even over Quinn Matthews. This is his first step to St. Louis, although it will be a bit before he makes it all the way to the majors.

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