Tennessee teammates together again as Cardinals draftees
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ST. LOUIS -- On a Sunday night when the Cardinals’ four Draft selections took on a distinct Tennessee feel, hard-throwing left-handed pitcher Liam Doyle was quick to offer a scouting report on Tanner Franklin, a former University of Tennessee teammate who might throw even harder than him, with a fastball that has topped out at 102 mph.
Doyle was the No. 5 overall pick on Day 1 of the MLB Draft. The Cardinals then got Franklin with the No. 72 pick.
“Tanner is also a super competitive guy, and I feel like that’s all you get when you get Tennessee guys,” said Doyle. “He’s a hard-throwing guy. He knows how to come out of the bullpen, and he really shut things down for us this year.
“He’s pitched at a high level, and he made a huge transition with himself, coming from a small, mid-major school [Kennesaw State] and having success in the SEC. I was pretty excited hearing that pick.”
While Doyle set a school-record at Tennessee with 164 strikeouts in 95 2/3 innings, Franklin racked up 52 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings while working primarily out of the bullpen. Had Franklin pitched at another school, he might have been a featured starter because of a fastball that sits between 94-98 mph, said Cardinals assistant general manager/director of scouting Randy Flores.
“Tanner Franklin, with his velocity and the way his fastball plays and his multiple innings of relief, that’s something we want to see as we continue to extend him out,” Flores said. “There was a very talented staff there [at Tennessee], and you could argue that if he was at another school he might have gotten the chance to be extended even more [as a starter].”
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In between picking Doyle and Franklin, the Cardinals selected Tennessee high school star Ryan Mitchell with the No. 55 overall pick. The 18-year-old Mitchell was the Volunteer State’s Gatorade High School Player of the Year, and he is committed to play college ball at Georgia Tech. However, the Cardinals are confident they will be able to sign him and make him their center fielder of the future.
“He is someone whose speed and aggressiveness in the batter’s box was just something our scouts just loved,” Flores said.
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The Cardinals selected University of San Diego left-handed-hitting first baseman Jack Gurevitch with the No. 89 pick. He had a slash line of .371/.477/.681 with 17 home runs and 56 RBIs in 56 games in 2025. Flores said Gurevitch, 21, came highly recommended by USD head coach Brock Ungricht, a former Cardinals scout.