Cardinals fans should be excited after what their top pitching prospects just did

While the Cardinals had a needed off day on Thursday at the Major League level, all four of their full-season minor league affiliates were on display, and the starters who took the mound for them in each game combined to put on an absolute show.

Quinn Mathews (Triple-A), Liam Doyle (Double-A), Tanner Franklin (High-A), and Cade Crossland (Low-A) all drew starts for the Cardinals on Thursday and combined to throw 21 innings, striking out 31 batters while allowing just seven hits, eight walks, and three runs in their outings.

That level of dominance across an entire farm system on the mound drew the eyes of national outlets and is just the latest example of exciting pitching within the Cardinals' farm system right now.

Future pitching looks very bright within the Cardinals farm system

Mathews, the 2024 Minor League Pitcher of the Year across the entire sport and the Cardinals' ninth-ranked prospect according to Baseball America, had his best start of the season so far, allowing just one hit while striking out nine batters in six innings of work for Memphis. He generated 16 swings-and-misses during the night, and if he continues to settle his early-season command issues, Mathews may see an MLB debut in the near future.

Doyle, the Cardinals' second-ranked prospect according to Baseball America and their 40th-ranked prospect in the sport, struck out six batters over five innings while allowing two runs on four hits, and got 15 swings-and-misses on his pitches over the course of the evening. It was actually Doyle's first win as a professional and his second straight quality start as he continues to toy with a new arsenal of breaking balls that seems to be unlocking his game.

Down at High-A, Franklin, who Baseball America has as the Cardinals' fourth-ranked prospect and The Athletic's Keith Law just recently ranked as his 25th best prospect in the sport, got 12 swings and misses across his 5.1 innings of work, striking out even hitters while allowing just one run on one hit and one walk. Franklin continues to show incredible stuff and is a rising prospect in the sport.

And then there is Crossland, who allowed just one hit and four walks in his 4.1 innings of work on Thursday, generating 16 swings-and-misses on a career-high nine strikeouts. He, like Frankling and Doyle, is just 22 years old.

Doyle and Franklin are seen by most as the Cardinals' three best pitching prospects, with names like Mathews, Jurrangleo Cijnte, and Yhoiker Fajardo all making their own cases as high-end pitching prospects. That doesn't even include high-upside injured arms like Tekoah Roby, Brandon Clarke, Ixan Henderson, or Cooper Hjerpe, who the ladder just started his rehab assignment, or the depth of arms they have in the system right now that includes Crossland, Brycen Mautz, Braden Davis, Jacob Odle, Mason Molina, Tink Hence, and many more.

The Cardinals have done a great job of targeting high-upside arms in the last two drafts and through the trade market under Chaim Bloom, and now their revamped player development group is helping put those arms in position to become the best version of themselves. Matt Pierpont, who came over from the Seattle Mariners last offseason to become the Cardinals' director of pitching, is a major part of that equation.

It was a really fun night down on the farm for the Cardinals' pitching development, and hopefully, we'll begin to see some of those high-upside arms make their way to St. Louis in the near future.

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