This story was excerpted from Will Leitch's Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
It was quite a season for the Cardinals’ farm system. Thirteen players made their Major League debuts in a St. Louis uniform in 2026, with some of the organization’s top prospects showing significant promise at the highest level.
But there is a lot more where that came from, thanks to existing prospects taking steps forward and an influx of talent from the 2026 Draft class that MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis deemed the most impressive in the league. When Pipeline ranked all 30 farm systems in August, the Cardinals ranked No. 4.
COMPLETE CARDINALS PROSPECT COVERAGE
So, who’s next? Here are three Cardinals prospects to watch entering 2027:
Ever since the Cardinals signed Rodriguez out of the Dominican Republic for $300,000 in April 2024, his ascent has been remarkable. The 19-year-old posted a .324/.413/.574 batting line in 115 games in 2026 between High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield. It's a truly remarkable feat for Rodriguez, who won’t turn 20 until January and was facing older competition.
It is still up in the air where Rodriguez is going to play when he gets the call to the Majors. He is a perfectly serviceable catcher, but he’s not up to the level of Leo Bernal (Cardinals' No. 4 prospect, No. 80 overall), who debuted in September and quickly impressed on both sides of the ball. Rodriguez has also played some first base; intriguingly, the Cardinals are going to give him some real training and reps at third base, which is a position that is very much open for St. Louis in the long term.
Wherever Rodriguez ends up playing, he’s going to hit like crazy. The Cardinals will wait as long as they need to call him up. But it will be difficult to deny him for long if he continues to mash the way since arriving in pro ball.
2. Liam Doyle, LHP (Cardinals' No. 2 prospect, No. 40 overall)
No pitcher in the Minor Leagues was more exciting for the Cardinals down the stretch than Doyle, their first-round pick (fifth overall) in the 2025 Draft. A 6-foot-2, flamethrowing lefty from Tennessee, he had a 5.82 ERA through his first 13 starts … and then was absolutely dominant the rest of the way. Over his final starts (including two in the postseason), the 22-year-old posted a 1.63 ERA across 60 2/3 innings with 73 strikeouts. Doyle still allowed too many walks (32), but hitters couldn’t really touch him during that stretch: a .158 batting average against and .202 slugging percentage, with just 32 hits and two home runs.
Doyle’s four-seam fastball regularly reaches 100 mph, and he throws it with purpose and a little bit of fury: At his best, he can look almost like a left-handed Max Scherzer. The Cardinals won't promote him prematurely, but they will call him up, and he will serve as a prime example of what the Cardinals are trying to accomplish in their Minor League pitching program. Doyle looks like an ace in the making.
3. Tanner Franklin, RHP (Cardinals' No. 6 prospect)
Alright, maybe Franklin is the prime example of what the Cardinals are trying to accomplish in their Minor League pitching program. Doyle’s college teammate and fellow 2025 Draft pick (72nd overall), Franklin racked up 133 K’s in 105 innings between High-A and Double-A this year. The 6-foot-5 righty (29.8% K-rate) actually struck out batters at nearly the same clip as Doyle (30.0%); Doyle, Franklin, Yhoiker Fajardo (Cardinals' No. 13) and Trade Deadline acquisition Daniel Eagen (No. 22) were all in the top 20 in K rate this season among Minor League pitchers with 100-plus innings.
Franklin was Springfield's Game 1 starter in the Texas League Championship Series, throwing a career-high 6 1/3 innings and striking out nine with no walks. He, like, Doyle, probably won’t be in the Majors until later in the 2027 season, but these former teammates are likely on similar timelines for the Cardinals moving forward.