Liam Doyle signs first professional contract with Cardinals

Former Tennessee ace Liam Doyle has signed his first professional contract. The southpaw, who was selected No. 5 overall by the St. Louis Cardinals, signed for $7.25 million Thursday morning, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis.

The slot value assigned for he pick was $8,134,800.   

No. 5 overall pick Liam Doyle signs with @Cardinals for $7.25 million (slot value = $8,134,800). @Vol_Baseball LHP, led NCAA D-I with 15.4 K/9, best fastball in @MLBDraft, sits at 96 mph, touches 100, comes out of high release point & explodes at top of strike zone. pic.twitter.com/1bWuxoFxEt

— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) July 17, 2025

“I love it for him. What a phenomenal kid to be around,” Tony Vitello said after the selection while providing analysis on the MLB Network. “I think he’s got a bright future on the mound.

“Quentin Eberhardt [strength coach] was our guy and if you would have saw August and September when they first report to school, you would have thought, this kid may transfer out of this place. It’s not gonna work. But he bowed up just like he bowed up here, just too much. He bowed up to our strength coach and Q and he now are best of friends because of the conditioning level that Liam’s in and he had to work for it. It’s a great story for kids that are out there.”

With the first round selection at No. 5 overall, Doyle became the highest-drafted Tennessee player since 2016 when Nick Senzel went No. 2 overall to the Reds and the highest-drafted pitcher since Luke Hochevar was taken No. 1 overall in 2006. Tony Vitello has also produced two other first round pitchers with Chase Dollander (No. 9 overall, COL) in 2023 and Garrett Crochet (No. 11 overall, CHW) in 2020. Marcus Phillips was selected later in the first round, making it a program-record four first round selections and two pitchers in the opening round.

Doyle, who transferred from Ole Miss to Tennessee ahead of the 2025 season, was a dominant pitcher in college baseball this year. The Tennessee ace finished with a 10-4 record in 17 starts and 19 appearances. He had a 3.20 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and struck out 164 against just 32 walks over 95.2 innings pitched.

The southpaw finished second nationally to LSU’s Kade Anderson with 164 strikeouts this past season and is the Tennessee single-season record holder in the category. Doyle was also named a Finalist for both the prestigious Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Awards, along with winning Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year and Perfect Game (national) Pitcher of the Year honors.

Doyle was a consensus first team All-American as a junior. 

Tennessee in the 2025 MLB Draft

Round 1 (No. 5 overall) Liam Doyle – Cardinals
Round 1 (No. 9 overall) Steele Hall (signee) – Reds
Round 1 (No. 10 overall) Billy Carlson (signee) – White Sox
Round 1 (No. 13 overall) Gavin Kilen – Giants
Round 1 (No. 20 overall) Andrew Fischer – Brewers
Round 1 (No. 25 overall) Kruz Schoolcraft (signee) – Padres
Round 1 (No. 33 overall) Marcus Phillips – Red Sox
Round 2 (No. 52 overall) AJ Russell – Rangers
Round 2 (No. 64 overall) Dean Curley – Guardians
Round 2 (No. 72 overall) Tanner Franklin – Cardinals
Round 3 (No. 105 overall) Nate Snead – Angels
Round 5 (No. 149 overall) Matt Barr (JUCO) – Twins
Round 7 (No. 225 overall) Mason Estrada (portal) – Dodgers
Round 14 (No. 430 overall) Clay Edmondson (portal) – Padres
Round 15 (No. 456 overall) DJ Newman (portal) – Astros
Round 17 (No. 522 overall) Cannon Peebles – Guardians
Round 18 (No. 534 overall) Ethan Moore (signee) – Reds
Round 19 (No. 572 overall) Cameron Appenzeller (signee) – Mariners