How No. 2 Prospect Liam Doyle Looked In Cardinals Pro Debut

One of the most exciting St. Louis Cardinals pitching prospects in recent memory made his organization debut on Saturday.

No. 2 prospect Liam Doyle was selected with the No. 5 pick by the Cardinals in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft. The Cardinals had him building up behind the scenes before making his professional debut. Doyle ended up making his first appearance in the Cardinals system on Saturday.

He recently promoted to the Class-A Palm Beach Cardinals and got the start on Saturday night. He came out swinging with his high-octane batter and struck out the first person he saw to kick off his professional career.

Liam Doyle strikes out the first batter he faces as a pro!

The 2025 No. 5 overall pick paints the outside corner with a 97.7 mph sinker -- and gets it confirmed via ABS challenge.@Cardinals | @CardsPlayerDev | @GoPBCardinals pic.twitter.com/30k3PPvvD1
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 6, 2025

21 year old Cardinals LHP prospect Liam Doyle strikes out three in his pro debut.
pic.twitter.com/4V1OsJQBxf
— Baseball Scouting (@BSBSCOUT) September 7, 2025

The Cardinals organization didn't stretch Doyle out for long. On Saturday, he went just 1 2/3 innings pitched. Over that brief stretch, he struck out three batters and allowed on earned run. He'll likely get at least one more two more opportunities before the 2025 season comes to a close. Doyle is a potential star, although he was drafted just this summer. This season, he had a 3.20 ERA in 19 appearances for Tennessee to go along with an insane 164-to-32 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 95 2/3 innings pitched.

Here is the scouting report on the young Cardinals flamethrower from MLB.com if you hadn't heard yet:

The Cardinals have a future star on their hands

Apr 24, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; A view of St. Louis Cardinals players hats and gloves in the dugout during a game with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-Imagn Images | David Kohl-Imagn Images

"Doyle's success centers primarily around his fastball, which sat at 91-94 mph during his sophomore season and now operates in the mid-90s and peaks at 100," MLB.com said. "It has been the most untouchable heater in college baseball this year, coming out of a high release point and exploding at the top of the zone -- he topped D-I by finishing 105 strikeouts with the pitch. His 82-85 mph slider has become a solid offering but he leaves it in the middle of the plate too often, which is also an issue with his upper-80s cutter.

"While he throws his fastball nearly two-thirds of the time, Doyle has four effective pitches after switching to using an upper-80s splitter as his changeup. Despite his dominance this spring, there are concerns about his ability to succeed as a starter at the next level because he has an unorthodox delivery and constantly throws with maximum intent. He does provide consistent strikes and held his stuff deep into games throughout his junior season."

He's the No. 2 prospect behind JJ Wetherholt right now in the organization. The same way people talk about Wetherholt could be the case for Doyle next year.

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