Cardinals prospect gets stunning top-50 ranking from Keith Law that no one saw coming

The St. Louis Cardinals' farm system is loaded with young talent right now, but The Athletic's Keith Law seems to be higher than any other publication on exciting starting pitcher prospect Tanner Franklin.

Law just released his updated top 50 prospects in all of baseball, and to the surprise of almost everyone, Franklin checked in on his list as Law's 25th-best prospect in the sport after not having him ranked at all prior to the season. No other major outlet has Franklin in their top 100 right now. With that being said, the Cardinals are extremely high on Franklin, and much of the industry is beginning to reflect that as well, even if they are not as aggressive as Law was here.

Baseball America recently bumped Franklin up to the fourth-best prospect in the Cardinals system and has identified him as an arm who can bump into their top 100 this season. Franklin, 22, was selected wth the 72nd overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee, dubbed as the potential 'steal of the draft', and was teammates with Cardinals' first-round pick Liam Doyle. Through his first nine starts in High-A Peoria this year, Franklin has a 3.31 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 32.2 innings of work.

Franklin was a reliever for Tennessee, but the Cardinals saw so much potential in him as a starter and have been transitioning him to that role since drafting him. They are going to be careful with how they build him up, but like Law noted in his write-up on Franklin, his strong frame and repeatable delivery make that transition one worth betting on, with Law believing there is "No. 2 starter upside here", much like Doyle. Franklin just hit his career high in innings pitched in a game on May 22nd with 5.1, which is a super encouraging step in his development.

Franklin has a dynamic fastball that lives in the upper-90s and can eclipse 100 MPH as well. His plus slider is his go-to secondary pitch, but he also has other intriguing breaking balls and secondaries that can make him an impact starter for a long time.

If I were making my own list, Rainiel Rodriguez would be the clear top prospect in the Cardinals system for me, while Law had him third behind both Doyle and Franklin, and I'd probably still give Doyle the edge over Franklin as well. But after those two, Franklin has a strong argument to be their third-best prospect, and he should find himself on other top 100 lists soon.

Tanner Franklin may soon find himself on other outlets' top 100 lists in the near future

As the Cardinals continue to showcase Franklin on the mound and he can prove that his stuff plays and he has the ability to go through a lineup two or even three times, the industry is going to buy into him as a very high upside pitching prospect. You can't teach that kind of velocity that Franklin has, and the secondaries give plenty of reason to bet on his upside.

Now, don't expect the Cardinals to be overly aggressive with Franklin, as he threw just 38.2 innings for Tennessee last year and is about to eclipse that number already. They want to push Franklin and develop him, but they are going to be wise about his total workload in his first full year in their system.

Keep a close eye on Franklin, Cardinals fans. There's a lot of reason to get excited about what he can offer.

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