Central STL News

Liam Doyle, a left-handed pitcher recently drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals as their No. 5 pick in 2025, is making an impact in Double-A baseball as Springfield pursues a Texas League title. After leading college baseball with 15.4 strikeouts per nine innings at the University of Tennessee, Doyle expressed eagerness to start his professional career immediately following the MLB Combine.

“After the college season, I was shut down for about two weeks of no throwing and then I was building up before the Draft,” said Doyle, who made his first Double-A start with playoff-bound Springfield on Saturday and struck out three over two scoreless innings. “Once I got to Jupiter, I sat down with [Pierpont] to figure out what the plan was going to be. I pitched almost 100 innings in college, so a little rest never hurt. I built up and felt strong, and they watched my ‘pens and could tell I was ready.”

Doyle’s debut in Single-A Palm Beach saw him reach 98.4 mph on his fastball four times during his first professional appearance, striking out three of seven batters faced while averaging 96.1 mph on his fastball. His first Minor League strikeout involved a missed call by the home plate umpire that was corrected using the ABS challenge system.

Having shown potential as a hard-throwing lefty with swing-and-miss capabilities, Doyle quickly advanced to Springfield where he has joined other players aiming for a league championship. He also had opportunities to learn from major leaguers Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan during their rehab assignments.

“Watching Nolan walk in at noon when the clubhouse wasn’t open until 2:30 was pretty cool,” Doyle said of Arenado, who is rehabilitating his strained right shoulder. “Watching [Arenado and Donovan] go about their business and seeing everything that makes them great has been great. I’m trying to learn from them and be the best version of myself.”

Doyle models himself after Cy Young winners Chris Sale and Max Scherzer—Sale being someone he watched growing up near Boston—and credits connections through Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello for interactions with Scherzer.

His competitive drive became evident during this year’s NCAA Regional Tournament when he challenged Wake Forest hitter Luke Costello after coming in as relief just days after pitching nearly seven innings: “You’re [finished],” Doyle barked with some blue language before delivering a strikeout-fastball at 99 mph.

“I’ve always kind of had that edge to me. That’s something that kind of comes with being from the northeast,” Doyle said.

Despite experiencing disappointment in Tennessee’s Super Regionals loss against Arkansas earlier this year, Doyle now aims to help Springfield secure a championship before closing out his rookie professional season.

“When I go out there, [intensity] is what I owe to the fans and my family,” he said. “This is my job now, which is pretty cool to say. I just try to put on a show and compete to the best of my ability. Baseball is something that I seem to be pretty good at, and I just like competing, and I feel like that’s what I should be doing.”