最新杏吧原创

ATLANTA聽鈥� Even after around six hours on MLB Network talking about the Major League Draft and player after player after player picked from his program, Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello stepped down from the set ready with a story he did not tell.

This past fall a transfer with big competitiveness and a bigger arm arrived on campus and struggled to keep pace with his teammates during conditioning and weight work. A kid from the northeast, Liam Doyle can sling fastballs with the best of them, but as the fall progressed there was concern whether he鈥檇 make Tennessee鈥檚 rotation let alone be the flame-thrower the Cardinals were thrilled to pick at No. 5 overall.

鈥淚鈥檒l be honest: The first few weeks you kind of worried about him,鈥� Vitello replied to the Post-Dispatch late Sunday night after wrapping his role on MLB Network鈥檚 live draft coverage from the Coca-Cola Roxy in Atlanta. 鈥淲here is this going to go? Is he going to last? Is he going to make it? Is he just going to want to storm out of here because it wasn鈥檛 like he couldn鈥檛 do it as well as his teammates. He couldn鈥檛 do some of the stuff. (It took) an impressive amount of competitiveness and determination to get over that hump.

鈥淲hen you get that fifth pick who is a college guy, you might expect to hear a phrase that what you see is what you get,鈥� Vitello continued. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e there yet with Liam.鈥�

With their highest pick since 1998, the Cardinals jumped at the chance to select Doyle, 21, with the fifth pick. Doyle faced those fall struggles and, according to his coach, 鈥渇orged ahead.鈥� The lefty dropped 19 pounds, slimmed down, strengthened up, embraced a regimen that maintained fitness, and did far more than make Tennessee鈥檚 rotation. He led it.

Doyle set a school record for single-season strikeouts with 164, topped the nation in strikeout rate with 15.4 per nine innings, and emerged as one of the most dominant Friday night starters in the most dominant college baseball league, the SEC.

鈥淚鈥檓 ready to get after it,鈥� the lefty said late Sunday.

Doyle was the first of four picks from the Cardinals on the opening night of the draft. They also selected Tennessee high school shortstop Ryan Mitchell at No. 55 and announced he would play center field; they picked Doyle鈥檚 teammate, reliever Tanner Franklin, at No. 72 and their plan is to look at the flame-throwing right-hander as a starter; and the Cardinals took University of San Diego slugger Jack Gurevitch with the No. 89 pick.

Assistant general manager Randy Flores, the former lefty reliever and World Series champion who is at the controls for his 10th draft, used one word to describe the picks.

鈥淥utliers,鈥� he said.

For Mitchell, of Houston High in Germantown, Tennessee, it鈥檚 his speed and aggressive in the batter鈥檚 box with potential power to all fields. For Franklin, it鈥檚 the big, burly fastball and starter potential perhaps hidden by a college relief role. His coach, Vitello called Franklin 鈥渨hat some people think might be the steal of the draft.鈥� For Gurevitch, it鈥檚 standout exit velocity that merged this season with increased contact within the strike zone, or 鈥渉itting the ball insanely hard,鈥� as Flores said. And for Doyle it鈥檚 the fastball that can touch 101 mph and still defy hitters who know it鈥檚 coming.

Flores used the word 鈥渟carcity鈥� to describe a fastball like Doyle鈥檚.

鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 get to later in the draft,鈥� the Cardinals鈥� director of scouting said from Busch Stadium at the end of the draft鈥檚 first day. 鈥淎n arm talent that misses bats in the SEC who is left-handed was just too rare for us to pass up.鈥�

Doyle, 21, reached 99 mph consistently with his fastball. He paired that with a strong split-finger and a willingness to challenge hitters with any of his pitches. Doyle had a ferocity on the mound that would include shouting at hitters before zipping a 99-mph fastball past them and then galloping off the field in celebration. During a conference call on Zoom, Flores noted what it must have been like to have an arm like Doyle鈥檚 and also wonder if Tennessee had a 鈥渨eekend spot for him鈥� in the rotation.

That was the reality in the fall as Doyle struggled to keep up off the mound.

鈥淚 would love to dive into the story when he first showed up on campus,鈥� Vitello said about the time constraints of TV. 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 even close to being ready to go through the stuff our guys have to. And when that moment arrives, you either bail or forge ahead.鈥�

Doyle forged 鈥� ahead.

With help from several Tennessee trainers, one of whom used to work in the Cardinals鈥� minor-league system, Doyle improved his fitness and strength and closed that gap on his teammates.

Tennessee鈥檚 trainers 鈥渢aught me how to change my body,鈥� Doyle said. 鈥淚 always felt stronger, was able to go deeper into games. Was able to consistently hold velo late in the game. That really helps me have a fastball like mine.鈥�

Added Vitello, a De Smet grad with strong ties to 最新杏吧原创: 鈥淗e鈥檚 a kid from the northeast with a great arm and a big heart for competition but that was about it. Raw is a word that kind of gets overused. But I think he had so many more boxes to check before he was going to leave college. 鈥� It became a deal where he was a little more of an explosive athlete. And then he was able to hold his velocity longer because he was in better condition.鈥�

Doyle is viewed as a potential swift-mover, though his initial entry into professional baseball will be governed by his workload from this past spring at Tennessee. The bonus assigned to the fifth pick in this year鈥檚 draft is $8,134,800, and while the Cardinals can negotiate around that number the expectation is that Doyle will set a new record for bonus received from a Cardinals鈥� pick, surpassing the $6.9 million JJ Wetherholt signed a year ago.

Asked Sunday when Doyle might appear in 最新杏吧原创, Flores smiled.

鈥淚 wish, man,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wish I could say it was tomorrow.鈥�

This group of draft picks will be the first to enter the development program designed and run by president-elect Chaim Bloom鈥檚 hires such as assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio. While prep standouts like Mitchell are always picks that are molded and launched by development more than the draft, Franklin presents a project prospect who may reveal how quickly the Cardinals are catching up with the industry when it comes to pitching development. Franklin, 21, has a blowtorch fastball that hits 100 mph.

鈥淎bout as easy as a 100-mph arm as you鈥檙e ever going to find,鈥� Vitello said.

He has a cut fastball that he plays off the heat.

鈥淚t鈥檚 in an infant stage of development,鈥� Vitello said.

He has a nascent breaking ball that he flashed late in the season.

鈥淭hat got all the scouts talking,鈥� Vitello said.

A 6-foot-5, big-bodied right-hander, Franklin was a transfer from Kennesaw State who made one start and 27 appearances and struck out 52 in 38 2/3 innings. As the season progressed, so did the length of his outings.

鈥淚 think a big question is why didn鈥檛 Tanner start for us,鈥� Vitello said. 鈥淚 think he profiled as a reliever the moment he got on campus. He kept evolving and became this strike-thrower with an incredible high ceiling. We just kind of dream if for some reason he was back on our campus there is no doubt he would be a starter. There鈥檚 no doubt his off-speed pitches would develop at a high level and he鈥檇 probably be one of the best starters in the country.鈥�

That, too, is a story he didn鈥檛 get to tell on TV.

By the time MLB Network ended its live coverage of the first three rounds, Vitello had been offering thoughts on almost every pick, and yet he had not run out of things to say 鈥� or time to reach out to the three Tennessee Volunteers picked in the first round or eight on the first day. Vitello said he had a text on his phone from Doyle that arrived in the early hours of the draft coverage. A 最新杏吧原创 kid, Vitello spoke highly to Doyle about the Cardinals and their past history. The lefty knew a bit about the Cardinals from growing up in New Hampshire and playing travel ball with the son of a Cardinals Hall of Famer from New Hampshire 鈥� Chris Carpenter.

Vitello got a text message from the lefty after the pick and was able to check it during one of the few and brief breaks on the broadcast.

It read: 鈥淭HE LOOOOOOUUUU.鈥�

Vitello was unsure if the O was repeated as often or if it was the U.

But the sentiment was obvious.

鈥淗e鈥檚 got that brain,鈥� Vitello said. 鈥淎nything to be fired up about or be positive about, he seeks it out.鈥�

Baseball writer Daniel Guerrero and intern Quentin Corpuel contributed interviews from 最新杏吧原创 for this report.