Tennessee’s strikeout king signed below-slot, giving the Cardinals flexibility to chase upside later in the draft.
After teasing with some Instagram photos in Busch Stadium yesterday, the St. Louis Cardinals have officially signed their top draft pick, left-handed ace Liam Doyle, to a $7.25 million signing bonus, coming in nearly $900K under the slot value of $8.13 million for the No. 5 overall pick. It’s a strategic move that could ripple through the rest of their draft class.
We have signed LHP Liam Doyle.
Welcome to St. Louis, Liam! pic.twitter.com/TAZgFogZ2g
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 17, 2025
The fifth overall pick, Doyle was SEC Pitcher of the Year in his lone season at Tennessee and set a program record with 164 strikeouts in 95⅔ innings. He led the nation in strikeouts per nine (15.43) and posted a WHIP of 0.99. His fastball sits around 96–99 mph, plus a splitter and slider that miss bats on both sides of the plate. Keith Law ranked him the No. 2 overall prospect in the draft, calling his fastball “invisible” and praising his command and aggression. Quite frankly I was stunned he fell to the Cardinals at fifth overall.
By signing Doyle below slot, the Cardinals now have flexibility to go over slot on later picks—like Ryan Mitchell (No. 55) who has committed to Georgia Tech or other potential high-upside prep players.
Doyle is expected to start in Double-A or High-A, depending on how the Cardinals want to challenge his elite strikeout stuff. His fiery mound presence, “all gas, no brakes” mentality, and just plain nasty arsenal of pitches could make him a fan favorite fast.