No. 2 Cards prospect Doyle settles in, tosses four strong in best start of 2026
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After a bumpy beginning to his first full professional season, Liam Doyle figured something out on Sunday.
The Cardinals’ No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 29 pitched four innings of one-run baseball, scattering just a pair of hits alongside five strikeouts and one walk. Double-A Springfield’s bats, though, couldn’t back him up in a 3-1 loss to Wichita.
Doyle retired the first six batters he faced before a single to lead off the third inning. A groundout and two strikeouts ended the frame, but not before Ricardo Olivar advanced to third and scored on a wild pitch from Doyle.
Back out for the fourth, the left-hander induced two outs and gave up a ground-ball single before punctuating his day with another K.
Doyle -- the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 Draft out of Tennessee -- had begun 2026 by allowing nine runs (seven earned) across 3 2/3 innings in two starts. But Sunday’s strong stuff dropped his ERA nearly eight points, from 17.18 to 9.39.