The 最新杏吧原创 Cardinals select Liam Doyle in the MLB draft on Sunday, July 13, 2025.
ATLANTA 鈥 The Cardinals鈥 quest for more strikeouts and hunger for more pitching depth led them to a familiar source Sunday night even if they were in an unusual, even unexpected spot.
With their highest pick in a generation, the Cardinals selected Tennessee lefty Liam Doyle at No. 5 overall in the Major League Baseball draft. Long lauded for their run of selecting high-performing pitchers from strong college programs, the Cardinals returned to that pool to select a demonstrative, heat-seeking lefty who led college baseball in strikeout rate.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little hard to find 101 (mph) swing-and-miss,鈥 said Randy Flores, the Cardinals鈥 assistant general manager, helming his 10th draft for the club. 鈥淭he fact that he鈥檚 able to miss bats with a couple of different pitches, really gets good separation on his fastball and split 鈥 I think (that) bodes well for his long-term chances to start. ... Acquiring 101 (mph) with that unique fastball profile on the free-agent market is very, very expensive.鈥
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Doyle, who set the Vols鈥 single-season strikeout record this past spring, is the Cardinals鈥 highest pick in the draft since they selected J.D. Drew fifth overall in 1998.
For him to be available at No. 5, the Cardinals needed surprises ahead of them.
The unexpected started from the top. With the first overall pick, the Washington Nationals, who recently dismissed their longtime leader of baseball operations, selected Oklahoma prep shortstop Eli Willits. He and Ethan Holliday, Matt鈥檚 son, were considered the top prep infielders available in the draft 鈥 and both played their high school ball in Oklahoma. The Cardinals scouted both extensively, and they were tied by many pundits to Willits, the son of former big leaguer Reggie. At 17, Eli was the youngest player in the draft 鈥 and the Nats taking him first overall rearranged boards throughout the majors.
The Angels, a team linked to Doyle because of their recent preference for fast movers, offered more drama when they selected UC-Santa Barbara鈥檚 Tyler Bremner.
That left one of the top college lefties would be available to the Cardinals at No. 5. The only question would be if Ethan Holliday was still there.
He was not expected to get past the Colorado Rockies at No. 4.
And did not.
The team that chose his father in the seventh round of the 1998 draft picked Ethan and his .611 average in his senior year. That put the Cardinals on the clock.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say surprised,鈥 Flores said of Doyle鈥檚 availability when asked by reporters at Busch Stadium about the early picks. 鈥淭here was just so much uncertainty, I think, relative to past years that I remember. It was kind of less unanimous, you know, (with the) top five selections. We really were 鈥 I don鈥檛 want to say surprised. I think we were prepared. But I think more than any year that I can recall, teams鈥 boards were probably wildly different.鈥
The slot value for pick No. 5 is $8,134,800, and it鈥檚 likely Doyle will sign a record bonus for the Cardinals, surpassing last year鈥檚 $6.9 million bonus for the Cardinals top pick JJ Wetherholt. The Cardinals also have picks at Nos. 55, 72 and 89 on the first day of the two-day draft.
Tennessee鈥檚 Liam Doyle pitches during a game against Vanderbilt this past at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. The Cardinals selected Doyle with the No. 5 overall pick Sunday, July 13, 2025, in the MLB draft.
Combining Doyle鈥檚 selection with Wetherholt, the Cardinals have top 10 picks in consecutive drafts for the first time in their history. Wetherholt led off for the National League in Saturday鈥檚 All-Star Futures Game at Truist Field in Atlanta and made his Class AAA debut this past week with a home run and triple in his first game.
With the fastball that sizzles at 99 mph and reaches to 101 mph, Doyle is considered likewise: a quick-riser, pending the Cardinals鈥 plan with his workload.
The Cardinals lucked into the fifth overall pick due to MLB鈥檚 new lottery, and they got access to that high pick despite have a winning record in 2024. They hope that fortune and their selections shape the immediate future of the club, especially as it transitions into new front office leadership.
Born in Boston and raised in New Hampshire, Doyle went 10-4 for the Volunteers with a 3.20 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 95 2/3 innings. Now 21, the lefty struck out 101 more batters than he allowed hits in his junior season. A transfer from Ole Miss who spent one season with Tennessee, Doyle is the highest pick out of the Vols program since DeSmet graduate Tony Vitello took over as head coach before the 2018 season.
鈥淚 think he has a bright future on the mound,鈥 Vitello said immediately after the Cardinals鈥 pick as part of the MLB Network telecast from the Coca-Cola Roxy Theater in Atlanta. 鈥淎s he continues to evolve and mature, hitters are just going to have to flat-out beat Liam Doyle. That鈥檚 not going to be very easy to do because he鈥檚 ... an unreal competitor.鈥
In his scouting report, Vitello noted that Doyle slimmed down 19 pounds ahead of his junior season with the Vols.
鈥淕ets in shape,鈥 Vitello said. 鈥淭hrows tons of strikes.鈥
The return on the investment to improve his conditioning was a stack of honors. Doyle was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award. He won the SEC Pitcher of the Year award and was routinely a candidate to win the SEC Pitcher of the Week award. In 19 appearances (17 starts) for the Vols, the lefty had the second-most strikeouts in the country to LSU鈥檚 Kade Anderson, the third overall pick to Seattle. Doyle鈥檚 15.4 strikeouts per nine innings was tops in the nation, and he surpassed the Vols鈥 single-season record by 10 strikeouts.
One week, he struck out a dozen batters against 10th-ranked Vanderbilt.
The next, he struck out 10 against fifth-ranked Arkansas.
Flores referred to the weight loss as part of 鈥渁 wake-up call鈥 for the lefty and remarked how it was 鈥渧ery forceful to him.鈥
That describes him on the mound, too: very forceful. Baseball America鈥檚 scouting report for the lefty entering the draft detailed how 鈥渨hen hitters step into the box against Doyle, they know his fastball is coming, but there鈥檚 not much they can do about it.鈥 The lefty has a ferocity to his delivery that lead some pundits to see his future as a reliever. Flores said Doyle鈥檚 commitment to his fitness 鈥渂odes well for his chances to stay a starter.鈥 So, too, does his competitiveness.
Clips of Doyle commanding the mound and shouting to hitters circulated on social media, and one of them had him finishing off an at-bat with a 99 mph fastball the hitter could only watch zip past him.
Doyle then celebrated all the way into the dugout and out of sight.
Flores was asked about that enthusiasm.
鈥淚 would rather have fire,鈥 he said, 鈥渢han tears of sadness and timidness.鈥
Post-Dispatch baseball writer Daniel Guerrero and sports intern Quentin Corpuel contributed from 最新杏吧原创.
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