Redbird Minor League Weekly: Liam Doyle's Electric Week, Baez Goes Deep Three Times in Springfield Debut
By Caleb Hughes ·
The Strikeout Artist Starts to Believe It
Liam Doyle (AA, LHP, Rank: 2) has spent most of 2026 flashing stuff that makes you lean forward in your seat, then reminding you why the ERA is 4.50. This week felt different. Over two starts spanning 10 innings, he allowed just 2 earned runs, walked 2, and struck out 18, leading to a real conversation about his trajectory. The 30-day line backs it up: a 1.80 ERA over 20 innings with 25 strikeouts, a walk rate that has come down from the season-long 5.1 per nine, and a WHIP of 1.10. He is not changing anything mechanically, but the command of his explosive four-seam fastball to the top of the zone has been cleaner, and when that pitch is operating at 96-98 with carry, his cutter and slider become genuinely difficult to solve. The underlying tools have always pointed toward a mid-rotation ceiling; the 2025 season was essentially lost, so this is still a relatively young arm gaining his footing at a real level of pro ball.
The tension in Doyle's profile has always been whether the fastball-first approach can survive multiple trips through a lineup without sharper secondary execution. His changeup/splitter look remains the least consistent pitch in the mix, and when he loses the feel for it, right-handed hitters can sit on a fastball-slider pattern and wait. The walks, while improved this month, are still a factor over the full season, contributing to a 1.47 WHIP through 18 starts. At 22 with a profile graded 70 on the fastball and 55 on both the cutter and slider, the ceiling is real enough to be patient with. If this month's version of his command sticks, he is pitching his way toward a late-2026 or early-2027 call-up conversation. A #3 starter projection only looks aggressive until you watch him at full extension on a 97-mph heater that batters keep swinging through.
Three Home Runs, Eight RBI, and a Statement Week at Double-A
Jesus Baez (AA, SS, Rank: 18) arrived at Springfield at the start of August after demolishing High-A Peoria pitching, and he wasted no time making the jump look seamless. In 25 plate appearances this week, he went 7-for-21 with 3 home runs and 8 RBI, walking twice and striking out just twice against Double-A arms. That is a stunning level of contact quality for a hitter making his first taste of the level, and it fits right into a broader surge: over the last 30 days across both stops, he owns a .667 slugging mark with 10 home runs and 25 RBI in 93 plate appearances. Combined on the season, Baez has 29 home runs across A+ and AA, with a .557 slugging percentage. The power tool was graded at 55 with elite exit velocity, but the production is running ahead of even an optimistic read on that grade at this stage. The strikeout-to-walk ratio in Double-A this week is a small sample, but the fact that he is making contact against better stuff, not just ambushing fastballs, matters.
The scouting concerns have always centered on the hit tool sitting behind the power, a pull-heavy approach that can be exploited by quality breaking stuff away, and a defensive profile that is trending toward third base or a corner. None of that goes away after one week, and advanced Double-A pitchers will target him with spin to his back foot once they have a few looks. But the bat speed is real, the arm is a genuine plus at 60, and at just 21 years old, Baez is pushing toward a promotion conversation faster than his prospect ranking might suggest. If he sustains even half of this power output through the rest of August, the Cardinals will have a decision to make about Memphis by September.
Quick Hits
Tanner Franklin (AA, RHP, Rank: 26) · capped his time at Peoria with 5.1 innings of one-run ball, striking out 7 without issuing a walk, then earned a promotion to Springfield mid-week. Over his last four starts, he has a 1.89 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 19 innings and a WHIP of 0.84. A 70-grade fastball sitting 97-102 mph headlining his arsenal is not a subtle tool, and the recent command gains make it genuinely scary; the question is whether the changeup gets to a point where left-handed hitters can't just lay off hard stuff and wait.
Daniel Eagen (AA, RHP, Rank: 5) · will make his Cardinals organizational debut after arriving from Arizona in the Lars Nootbaar trade. He finished his time with Arizona throwing 5.1 innings of shutout ball with 7 strikeouts and just 1 walk. Over his last four outings combined, he carries a 2.61 ERA with 28 punchouts across 20.2 innings. The season ERA of 4.95 in Amarillo obscures a pitcher who has above-average stuff: a 55-grade four-seamer, a legitimate 60-grade curveball, and a slider that gives him multiple bat-missing looks.
Leonardo Bernal (AAA, C, Rank: 12) · went 8-for-16 with a homer, a double, 4 RBI, and 2 walks over the week, running his last-30-day line to a .373/.424/.712 slash with 4 home runs and 19 RBI in just 66 plate appearances. The 22-year-old switch-hitting catcher is slashing .288/.371/.494 with 14 home runs through 84 games at Triple-A Memphis, a significant step forward from his .247/.332/.394 line at Double-A last year. The defensive profile at catcher is the carrying tool, but this offensive surge is making the second-division projection feel conservative.
Tai Peete (AA, OF, Rank: 14) · earned a promotion to Springfield on August 4 after posting a .344/.408/.719 line over his last 15 games at Peoria, including 5 home runs, 3 triples, and 11 stolen bases. His week straddled both levels: 9 hits, a homer, a triple, 5 RBI, and 5 walks across 28 plate appearances. The 20-year-old has 13 steals and 10 home runs combined this season, and while the 40-grade hit tool and high miss rates are real concerns, the power-speed combination at his age is worth watching closely as Double-A pitching gets its first look at him.
Rainiel Rodriguez (AA, C, Rank: 1) · drove in 3 on 5 hits, including 2 home runs, over 18 plate appearances, extending a scorching month. The 19-year-old catcher is hitting .324/.386/.662 over his last 30 days at Springfield with 6 home runs and 20 combined doubles across the season. A 60-grade power tool and a walk rate that consistently runs above 10 percent make him the system's headliner for a reason. He hasn't played a full season yet and he's already making Double-A arms look ordinary.
Josiah Ragsdale (AA, OF, Rank: 38) · arrived from Milwaukee in the Dustin May trade and immediately looked at home, going 3-for-7 with a homer and 2 walks in his first two games. For the week, he's been 5-for-21 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in his first week as a Cardinal. Before the trade, he was slashing .292/.429/.698 at Double-A Biloxi over 26 games with 12 home runs, so the power surge is not a fluke; he entered the week with 20 home runs across 88 games this season. A plus runner with a 60-grade speed tool who posts a .444 on-base percentage for his career at Double-A is a lot to acquire for a pitching swap, even if the strikeout rate remains the profile's biggest variable.
Blake Aita (AA, RHP, Rank: 42) · struck out 6 over 6.1 innings of one-run ball without a walk in his most recent start at Springfield. His season ERA across two levels sits at 3.71 through 87.1 innings, and the 30-day ERA of 3.34 with a WHIP of 1.04 represents his best sustained stretch. None of his pitches grade above 50, but the consistency and durability are genuine assets; he looks like a back-end depth starter his projection describes.
Cooper Hjerpe (AAA, LHP, Rank: 28) · debuted at Memphis with 3.2 innings of scoreless work, striking out 4, though 4 walks kept it messy. The promotion follows a stretch at Double-A Springfield where he posted a 2.30 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 15.2 innings over five starts. The full 2025 season was lost to Tommy John surgery, so getting to Triple-A before August as a 25-year-old lefty with a 55-grade slider and deceptive crossfire mechanics is a solid outcome. I'd expect the walk numbers to come down once he gets more comfortable with the jump.
Alexander Frias (A, LF, Rank: 25) · joined the organization via the same Brewers trade that brought Ragsdale. He went 1-for-4, stole a bag, and played a steady center field in his debut. The 18-year-old left fielder is hitting .341/.425/.547 in 266 combined plate appearances this season, with most of that production coming against rookie-ball competition. He's a long-term bat-first project with a 55-grade power tool, but moving him directly to full-season ball after the trade is the right call to gauge where his swing stands against real pitching.
Dee Kennedy (A, SS, Rank: 11) · was promoted from the FCL to Palm Beach on August 6, the organization's second-highest-ranked position prospect by team rank making his full-season debut. No stat line to evaluate yet, but getting Kennedy into a Florida State League lineup before the season ends gives scouts a real look at whether the shortstop profile holds at a meaningful level of competition.
Quinn Mathews (AAA, LHP, Rank: 7) · was selected to the Cardinals' active roster on August 1, then optioned back to Memphis on August 4 after a brief cup of coffee. His debut was mixed, giving up 2 earned runs over 5 frames, with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks. He yielded 6 hits averaging 94 with his fastball. The left-hander has been one of the system's better starting pitching stories this year; worth monitoring for a more permanent roster spot as the September expanded roster window approaches.