10:00am: Doyle agreed to a $7.25MM bonus, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com.
9:25am: The Cardinals announced Thursday that they’ve signed first-round pick Liam Doyle. The team did not disclose bonus terms. The fifth overall pick comes with an approximate $8.13MM slot value.
A left-hander from the University of Tennessee, Doyle was the third pitcher off the board on Sunday. The Cardinals were picking in the top five for the first time in almost three decades. Doyle became their highest-drafted player since J.D. Drew also went fifth in 1998. The organization’s most recent pitcher selected in the top five was Braden Looper, who went third overall in ’96.
Doyle struggled over his first two college seasons, which he divided between Coastal Carolina and Ole Miss. Things clicked for him during his junior year in Knoxville, as he turned in a 3.20 ERA across 95 2/3 innings in the nation’s best conference. The 6’2″ southpaw struck out 43% of opposing hitters. He recorded 164 punchouts overall. Only LSU lefty Kade Anderson, whom the Mariners selected with the third pick, had more strikeouts in the nation.
Keith Law of The Athletic ranked Doyle as the top pitcher in the class and the #2 overall prospect on his pre-draft board. Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN all had Doyle in the back half of their top 10. Evaluators all rave about the velocity and life on his upper-90s fastball, which dominated collegiate hitters. Some reports raised concern about the frequency with which he used the heater and/or his delivery, but most project him for at least average control. Law put a plus grade on his splitter and credited him with an above-average slider, projecting him as a potential #2 starter so long as the command continues to develop.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if we see Doyle in the big leagues by the end of the 2026 season. Five of last year’s top 14 selections — each from the college ranks — have already reached the majors. Doyle joins a farm system that includes Quinn Mathews, Tekoah Roby, Michael McGreevy and Tink Hence in the pitching pipeline. Twenty-five-year-old Matthew Liberatore is amidst an impressive season at the MLB level and looks to be breaking out as a long-term rotation fixture as well.
Future reliever
Roby and Hence are probably relievers too. I hope they don’t start 2026 with that little starting pitching.
Even if they do, the Cardinals will still already have Gray, Liberatore, Pallante, and McGreevy at the very least lined up for the 2026 starting rotation.
Future closer
Better than whatever you’re doing
That was the knock when former Tennessee southpaw Crochet was drafted. After TJS and persistently declaring he’s a starter, now he’s one of the handful of true aces in MLB.
I saw some video on him. He seems like a punk.
Watch other interviews of him talking in casual settings; he’s a very different personality when he’s not pitching. Seems smart and mature. Chris Carpenter was similar in that way.
If he’s similar to Chris carpenter, he must be a huge crybaby
@row I will take anybody who is similar to Chris Carpenter any day and twice on Sunday! I have never, not once, heard of Chris Carpenter referred to as a crybaby. Words I have heard applied to Chris are: dominant, bulldog, ace, feared, stopper, gamer, and more good things.
Chris Carpenter was an absolute stud and an epic Cardinal.
It’s not hard to figure out which political party you support with all of that hate.
lol to all the haters who think they know their stuff better than the professional evaluators.
Interesting prospect. That fastball is huge. Let’s see how it plays in the professional ranks.
Cardinals should take a page out if the Chris Sale/Garret Crochet playbook and hopefully by next year he’s in the pen and also getting some bullpen start games allowing him to adapt to MLB before going in the rotation in 2027.
@msq: Max Fried was developed the same way by Atlanta. Good plan, old school thinking.
Wainwright also started in the pen in 06 (maybe late 05 but idr)
Boston guy! Best of luck to him.
I think the Cardinals fans were pretty happy with Chaim picking this guy, so hopefully they get to see him become a productive pitcher for them. Good luck to this young man!
He signed quick. Surprising if he is a Client of the Boras corporation.
He’s a Boras guy and he signed for less? Interesting…
Yeah he must really want to be in St. Louis. Great to see as a fan and hopefully he’s a good fit that can stay around for a while
Good luck to you Liam and welcome to the St.Louis Cardinals.
He reminds me of Liberatore
@ ray
Maybe…except for height, build, temperament, pitch mix, velocity…what else?
They’re both lefties; does that make ME similar to Libby? 😊
Yes
Sweet! I’m 55 and have a bad back, but I’m ready to go, Ray!
I really like the draft pick. No we wait to see if anything of note comes from the pick
Severino for Yoshida.
Makes so much sense but probably doesn’t happen.
It should though
The A’s have Soderstrom(LH)in LF, Butler(LH)in RF, and Rooker hitting primarily out of the DH spot. Not to mention another LH corner OF in Bleday. Not sure where Yoshi fits as a DH/corner OF/LH bat.
Not to mention they just selected the contract of Cortes, another corner OF who is a lefty hitter
We better start finding some Japanese Korean talent with pitching. Those guys are crafty know how to pitch and don’t have arm trouble.
Too bad Joe Lo Truglio is from New York. It would be cool if the Cards got hin to throw out the first pitch when Liam Doyle makes the show in a few years.
Charles Boyle throws to Liam Doyle
And I’m saying this as a Cubs fan