While Chaim Bloom is working on acquiring more talent for the future this offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals already have a crop of young prospects who are exciting the rest of baseball and some of its most prominent talent evaluators.
Baseball America, who is about as good as it gets at providing prospect coverage and analysis in today’s game, has been releasing its updated top 10 prospects for each organization going into the 2026 season, and they had rave reviews for the prospects who are headlining the Cardinals organization right now.
Baseball America has high praise for the Cardinals’ top 10 prospects.
To no one’s surprise, SS JJ Wetherholt leads the Cardinals’ top 10 prospects, as he cemented himself as a top-five prospect in the game this year and is set to debut in 2026, likely on Opening Day. But what should excite Cardinals fans even more is that the names behind him are also showing tremendous promise and could reach similar heights as him in the near future
Sitting behind Wetherholt on this list are clear top 100 prospect LHP Liam Doyle and C Rainiel Rodriguez. Doyle, whom the Cardinals selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, could be a fast-moving lefty in their organization that could debut in St. Louis as soon as 2026, and boasts the kind of upside to be a front-line starter long-term. Rodriguez broke out in a huge way with his bat last season, and scouts see him as a future top prospect in all of baseball.
The fun doesn’t stop there. Outfielder Joshua Baez slotted in at fourth on their list, boasting huge power and speed, reminiscent of former MVP candidate Tyler O’Neill, and LHP Quinn Mathews was fifth. Mathews was Baseball America’s pitcher of the year in 2024 after he tore through the minor leagues in his professional debut. He will likely debut in St. Louis in early 2026 with legit upside to be a long-term starter.
RHP Tanner Franklin may come as a surprise in their sixth slot, but his 100+ MPH fastball and upside to improve his off-speed stuff could make him a high-upside starter if his transition to the rotation works out. Franklin was a teammate of Doyle at the University of Tennessee and was another selection by the Cardinals in the 2025 MLB Draft. LHP Ixan Henderson was tremendous for the Cardinals in Double-A Springfield this year and has emerged as a real starting pitching prospect as well.
Fans are well aware of the Cardinals’ catching depth, with Jimmy Crooks and Leonardo Bernal sneaking into their top 10 as well, along with lottery ticket prospect SS Yairo Padilla, who came into the 2025 season in a similar spot as Rodriguez and could take a massive jump in his own development this year.
Cardinals fans have a lot to be excited about in the farm system, and the club will likely add a lot more talent this offseason through trades and in the 2026 MLB Draft, where St. Louis has another top 10 selection coming. The Cardinals are rebuilding, but if this talent pops, it won’t be very long before they are contending again.
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