Liam Doyle, the No. 2-ranked prospect in the Cardinals system, flashed a stellar fastball and some wildness in his one scoreless inning of work in Sunday's Futures Game from Philadelphia. Rainiel Rodriguez, the Cards' No. 1 prospect, lined out in his one at bat.
Excited to show off his blazing fastball and also show that he is a better prospect than his uneven season at Double-A Springfield might suggest, Cardinals’ left-hander Liam Doyle flashed some sizzle and worked around his wildness in Sunday’s Futures Game in Philadelphia.
Doyle, the No. 2-ranked prospect in the Cardinals system, per MLB Pipeline, hit 99.2 mph twice with his four-seam fastball on the radar gun and fired a scoreless inning of relief for the National League All-Star squad at Citizens Bank Park.
Rainiel Rodriguez, the No. 1-ranked prospect in the Cards system, got just one at bat and lined a 1-0 pitch to left field in the American League All-Stars 6-1 win over the NL squad in the exhibition game.
The 19-year-old Rodriguez, the second-youngest position player in Double-A, had quite the adventure in the seventh inning when he was forced to catch three different pitchers. MLB cameras caught a funny sequence when Rodriguez had to ask one of the hurlers which pitches he likes to throw during a meeting on the mound.
Doyle’s one inning of work didn’t come without some hiccups – emblematic of a season at Double-A Springfield where he has gone just 1-5 with a 5.46 ERA over 14 starts. Of his 24 pitches on Sunday, he threw just 11 strikes, fired only one first-pitch strike to the five batters he faced and had three three-ball counts.
Doyle hit 99.2 mph on his fourth and fifth pitches of the inning, and he struck out Red Sox top prospect Franklin Arias (No. 7 in MLB) on an 87.8 mph splitter after the count went full. After falling behind Guardians prospect Ralphy Velazquez (No. 36 in MLB), Doyle dialed up a 98 mph four-seam fastball for his second strikeout.
Doyle fell behind Twins prospect Walker Jenkins (No. 14 in MLB) 3-0 before rallying back into the count and running it full. He walked Jenkins when his slider was wide of the plate. Following another walk of Royals prospect Blake Mitchell, Doyle wisely stepped off the rubber and threw to third base to nail Jenkins trying to swipe a base.
Rodriguez, Doyle starring for Double-A Springfield
Rodriguez, who was promoted from High-A Peoria to Double-A Springfield on May 11, has slashed .262/.361/.436/.797 with eight homers, six doubles and 27 RBI in 44 games. He showed off his superstar potential in June when he batted .338 with five homers and 14 RBI.
Behind the plate, Rodriguez has thrown out 17 of 69 (24.6 percent) of base stealers while committing six errors and surrendering two passed balls.
In his first full professional season after being picked No. 5 in the 2025 MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee, Doyle has used his electric fastball to strike out 75 batters in 56 innings with Double-A Springfield. He’s walked 33, while allowing opponents to hit .264 against him.
In his most recent outing, Doyle surrendered four hits, one earned run, a homer and four walks against Arkansas on July 3. He struck out four in five innings of work.
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