Cardinals Counting on a Rookie to Lead Them Back to the Top

The future of the St. Louis Cardinals arrived in 2026, and his name is JJ Wetherholt.

What a difference a season can make. At this time last year, Wetherholt was learning the pro game on the Double-A level for St. Louis’s affiliate in the Texas League—the Springfield (Missouri) Cardinals. After just 62 games on that level, the Cardinals’ top draft pick in 2024 out of the University of West Virginia was on his way a step higher, to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds for his final 47 games of the 2025 season.

Already as a rookie, Wetherholt has been slotted by Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol in the lineup’s leadoff spot, and he secured the second baseman’s job right out of spring training. St. Louis is banking on the 23-year-old to pilot them back to not only contending for the National League Central title, but claiming the pennant too.

It’s been 16 years since the Cardinals captured their last World Series championship, 14 years since winning a National League pennant, and 2022 was the last time they claimed the Central Division honors.

Every successful team has a leader whom others learn to believe in.

On Opening Day in March against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Louis, Wetherholt’s teammate, Victor Scott III, told SB Nation’s Viva El Birdos how confident he is in the rookie’s consistent hitting abilities already.

“He has that tool that’s not necessarily hard to come by, but it’s a very, very, very good tool,” said Scott, who played with Wetherholt at West Virginia for one year, when Scott was a junior and Wetherholt a freshman. “He has that hit tool. And he even had that in West Virginia.”

As the Cardinals were preparing to complete their series against the Athletics in West Sacramento, California, on Thursday afternoon, and looking ahead to a seven day, six-game homestand beginning on Friday, Wetherholt was at the top of his club’s hitting categories. He is second in home runs, in the top four in RBIs, second in walks, second in stolen bases, and second in OBP.

Wetherholt’s play is a major influence on the Cardinals’ overall performance, with the club in a three-way tie, 2.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the National League Central. In the tightened division race, at the start of the week, Wetherholt led all qualified National League rookies with a .350 on-base percentage.

With shortstop his primary position in college, and the Cardinals already set at that position with 2025 Gold Glove winner Masyn Winn presumably for years to come, Wetherholt has graduated to the major leagues as a second baseman. So far, the switch in playing a new everyday position can be considered a success. With only two errors in 190 balls hit to him, Wetherholt is adapting well, and perhaps more importantly—quickly.

Growing up in suburban Pittsburgh, Wetherholt often attended Pirates games on the city’s North Shore. Andrew McCutchen was his favorite player as a child. Making the 25-mile drive from his home in Mars, Pennsylvania, to downtown Pittsburgh to root for his hometown team, Wetherholt dreamed of one day taking to the infield at PNC Park just like his baseball heroes. Earlier this season, the Cardinals came through Pittsburgh for a four-game series and swept the Pirates. In the series, Wetherholt smacked six hits and drove in three runs.

On May 8 in a 6–0 win over San Diego, Wetherholt demonstrated his speed on the base paths in an unusual way. He hit a single with the bases loaded, and when the ball went under right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.’s glove and rolled back to the outfield wall, Wetherholt circled the bases untouched.

“I was really trying to hit the ball to the left because I was really early on the guy, and tried to get under it, and I hit the ball on the ground,” Weherholt told Yahoo Sports. “So that’s not exactly what I wanted, but found a hole.  And I was just kind of going around the bag and see where the throw went, and as soon as I saw it go under his glove, I just started running and I saw [third base coach Ron Warner] waving me. It’s like the most I’ve ran in probably four years. It was fun though.”

Just two minor league seasons, three highly productive offensive years at the University of West Virginia, and a fresh start on the MLB level have molded Wetherholt into one of the league’s premier rookies.