Already the top two prospects in the Cardinals’ organization, catcher/first baseman Rainiel Rodriguez and left-handed pitcher Liam Doyle are headed to MLB’s Futures Game.

Rodriguez (No. 1 Cardinals/No. 12 overall) and Doyle (No. 2 Cardinals/No. 22 overall) are among the 38 players from MLB’s Pipeline’s Top 100 that were chosen to play in the game that will be held on July 12 at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park as part of MLB All-Star Game Weekend.

Nine of the top 10 players from MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 will play in the game, and Rodriguez will be one of nine top prospects from teams competing.

Former Cardinals Gold Glove second baseman Kolten Wong was chosen to serve on the coaching staff for the National League’s team in the Futures Game. Wong, who worked with Cardinals’ infielders during Spring Training, will serve as manager Shane Victorino’s first base coach in the Futures Game.  

Rodriguez, 19 years old and the second-youngest position player already in Double-A, has come of late for Springfield. After earning a promotion from High-A Peoria to Double-A Springfield on May 12, the native of the Dominican Republic has showed off his superstar potential in June. After smashing another homer on Tuesday, Rodriguez is hitting .338 with four doubles, five homers and 14 RBI in June. He is getting on base 44.8 percent of the time, his slugging has hit .575 and his OPS is an eye-popping 1.023 in June.

In his 36 games in Springfield, Rodriguez has hit .270 with five doubles, six homers and 21 RBI. He has swiped five bases in seven tries and has struck out 40 times compared to 19 walks.

Doyle, the No. 5 in last July’s MLB Draft, started the season as the Cardinals’ top-ranked prospect, but he has since ceded that honor to the sweet-swinging Rodriguez. Doyle, a product of the University of Tennessee, pushed to pitch last season and worked in games for Class-A Palm Beach and Springfield, which went on to win the Texas League title in 2025.

Doyle hasn’t been as fortunate as Rodriguez in June. After slowly starting to work his way out of a slow start to the season, Doyle’s progress hit a snag before he limited Northwest Arkansas to one earned run over 3 2/3 innings on June 26. He struck out seven that night and walked just two.

In four June starts, Doyle is 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA. In 13 starts on the season, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound lefty is just 1-5 and his ERA has climbed to 5.82. Working on landing more of his secondary pitches, Doyle has cut down on his walks (29), while still posting solid strike out numbers (71) in 51 innings of work. Home run balls have been an issue in the 13 outings as he has surrendered eight long balls.

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