Liam Doyle

The Cardinals selected Doyle fifth overall in 2025, looking past his poor finish at Tennessee. He gave up 16 earned runs while walking nine in 21 innings over his final five starts and it became easier to nitpick his secondary offerings and control. He gave up one earned run while striking out six and walking two in 3.2 innings across one appearance at Single-A and one appearance at Double-A after signing. A 6-foot-2 lefty who pitched for three schools in three years, Doyle's fastball is one of the best pitches in the class, sitting in the mid-90s while touching 99 mph with excellent movement from a deceptive release point. Doyle throws his fastball two-thirds of the time and may not end up with a plus secondary offering. He also throws close to max effort, which, combined with his so-so secondaries and 8.3 percent walk rate as a junior leads some evaluators to see a potential future in relief. Doyle's 99.1 innings this year were easily a career high, topping the 65 innings he threw in 2023 combined between Coastal Carolina and the Cape Cod League. You could do worse than betting on a lefty with a dominant fastball, but there are several more complete college hurlers in the class who are preferable FYPD targets. Read Past Outlooks