MLB Pipeline peppers 2026 top 100 list with 5 Cardinals prospects

It's officially prospect hype season, and the St. Louis Cardinals continue to be heavily featured on preseason top 100 prospect lists.

Earlier this week, Baseball America released its annual top 100 prospects in all of Major League Baseball, with four different Cardinals prospects appearing on their list. MLB Pipeline just debuted their own list this evening, and they too had a variety of Cardinals represented, with some differences from what Baseball America ended up going with.

MLB Pipeline has 5 Cardinals prospects in their top 100 list for the 2026 season

MLB Pipeline's list featured five different Cardinals prospects, with SS JJ Wetherholt leading the list at five overall, followed by LHP Liam Doyle (#34), C Rainiel Rodriguez (#37), OF Joshua Baez (#87), and C Leonardo Bernal (#98)

In Wetherholt's first full season in professional baseball, he knocked the cover off the baseball in both Double-A and Triple-A, and had the Cardinals been in a playoff chase, he likely would have made his Major League debut. In 109 games last season, Wetherholt slashed .306/.421/.510 with 17 home runs and 59 RBI to go along with 23 stolen bases. His 154 wRC+ was among the best in all of minor league baseball last year.

Earlier this offseason, MLB Pipeline polled executives from around the league on who would win National League Rookie of the Year, and Wetherholt was the leading candidate with over 30% of the vote. Not only is he one of the best prospects in the game, but the industry believes he is ready to hit the ground running when he debuts with St. Louis.

Doyle, the Cardinals' fifth overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, is one of the best left-handed pitching prospects in the game already, and while the Cardinals will likely be patient with him this year, he figures to be an arm they can count on in the not-too-distant future.

Rodriguez had about as stellar a season as you could possibly have as an 18-year-old in 2025, slashing .276/.399/.555 with 20 home runs and 63 RBI in just 84 games played across the complex league, Palm Beach, and Peoria. If Rodriguez continues that momentum in his age 19 season, he'll skyrocket this top 100 list even further.

Baez had his own breakout year in 2025, going from what looked like a failed prospect to perhaps the biggest leap from any single prospect in baseball last year. He dramatically cut down on his strikeouts and swing and misses in order to post a .287/.384/.500 slash line with 20 home runs and 79 RBI in 117 games. Baez also swiped 54 bags and has the potential to be a true 30-30 player long-term.

Catcher Leonardo Bernal snuck into MLB Pipeline's list after missing out on Baseball America's, and could be a fast riser in 2026 as he continues to mature as a prospect both at and behind the plate. In his age 21 season at the Double-A level, Bernal posted a .247/.332/.394 slash line with 13 HR and 70 RBI as a switch-hitter, and he took home the MiLB Gold Glove award for the catcher position as well.

There is a lot to be excited about in the Cardinals system right now, and that is reflected in what we have seen from national rankings so far this year.