The Cardinals finally get their future ace in the first round of the MLB Draft

With the fifth overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, the St. Louis Cardinals selected one of the most Major League-ready starters in the entire draft with a ton of upside in left-handed pitcher Liam Doyle out of the University of Tennessee.

The St. Louis Cardinals get a potentially fast-rising arm in the first round with Liam Doyle out of the University of Tennessee

After chaos started the night at the top of the board with Eli Willits and Tyler Bremmer going first and second overall, the Seattle Mariners selected the top left-hander in the class in Kade Anderson, and the Colorado Rockies took Ethan Holliday, son of Matt Holliday, as most expected. That left the Cardinals' likely pick at number five between Arnold and Liam Doyle.

Doyle joins a strong crop of Cardinals starting pitching candidates in Quinn Mathews, Tekoah Roby, Tink Hence, and Cooper Hjerpe. Doyle is likely the best of the bunch now.

It's honestly a pretty shocking pick for the Cardinals, not because he isn't a great pick, but because Doyle felt like a very un-Cardinals-like pick. Doyle was the eighth-ranked prospect in the draft according to Baseball America, but boasts a 70-grade fastball that sits in the 95-97MPH range and gets to 100 MPH with excellent ride. He has a 50-grade slider, 55-grade changeup, and 50-grade cutter with developing control. His 42.6% strikeout rate was the best mark in all of Division 1 baseball this year. The Cardinals needed an arm who can miss bats at a high rate, but have not had someone as talented as Doyle in their system in a long time.

It is important to note that Doyle had a ton of success in the SEC, probably the best conference in all of Division 1 baseball, meaning he's had strong talent he's gone up against. In his final year at LSU, Doyle posted a 3.20 ERA in 95.2 innings of work, posting a 0.99 WHIP with a 15.4 K/9.

This pick is also a major shift in what kind of arm the Cardinals target compared to what they did under John Mozeliak. This feels very much like a Chaim Bloom-influenced selection. Doyle is advanced enough that the club could look to start him in Double-A next year, but do not expect to see him pitch this year after throwing a lot of innings during the college season.

This is easily the most talented pitcher to enter the Cardinals system in a long time.