The St. Louis Cardinals look to have plenty of position players to fill any spot on the field, but that does not necessarily mean those are all quality candidates. While the infield looks more crowded than the outfield, maneuvering players, especially high-level prospects, around multiple spots would not be the best way to clear up any position logjam the Cardinals face in 2026.
Moving JJ Wetherholt to the outfield could prevent his development as he nears the majors.
Currently, the Cardinals have an infield alignment from left to right of Nolan Arenado, Masyn Winn, Brendan Donovan, and Willson Contreras. This offseason, though, could see as many of three of those players in a different uniform and creating infield opportunity for the next Cardinals prospect. This player, of course, is MLB.com #5 prospect JJ Wetherholt, who has taken the minor leagues by storm since the Cardinals selected him in the 2024 draft. After just winning the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year and Texas League MVP awards, Wetherholt appears to be knocking down the door for his MLB debut in 2026. Where he will stand defensively, though, remains the largest question.
So far in his short professional career, Wetherholt has spent most of his time at shortstop but has handled both third base and second base with positive reviews. While the Cardinals have not yet committed to Wetherholt starting the year at Busch Stadium, there is little left for him to prove in the minor leagues unless the organization wanted to use the “working on his defense” excuse to keep him in Triple-A longer than necessary. That manipulation should not be on the table because, if he is truly ready for the bigs, his value to the major league team both on the field and with any potential draft pick reward should influence the Cardinals to promote Wetherholt as long as he shows he can handle it. So why the outfield question?
On a recent post by STL Sports Central, Randy Karraker was saying that the overload of infielders in the organization means the Cardinals should shift Wetherholt to center field, where the Cardinals are a below-average offensive team. For one, the overload of infielders should be a top priority for Chaim Bloom to sort out. Whether this is on the trade front or starting job confirmations, there needs to be clarity for the long-term infield that should be less of an issue after possible trades. Whichever infielder gets traded, it can be reasonably assumed that Wetherholt will step right into those spots. Trading Arenado and Donovan would make it even easier, with Wetherholt and Nolan Gorman being those new everyday players. The organization should prioritize keeping their top prospect comfortable and giving him the best chance to succeed at the next level as opposed to making him pick up a glove for a position he has never played while waiting for his call to the majors.
Sound familiar? If not, let me remind you of former uber-prospect Jordan Walker. He was drafted as a third baseman, but unlike Wetherholt, he was not seen as being able to stick at the hot corner for long. Despite knowing this, the Cardinals allowed Walker to play third base every day during his first professional season as he looked to get his toes wet in pro ball. That is all well and good because Walker had enough on his plate, growing from a high school prospect to a professional baseball player. The defensive results were bad, but the Cardinals remained stubborn with him and kept him at third base through the 2022 season.
As injuries and bad performance pilled up before the 2023 campaign, the Cardinals announced that Walker would transition to the outfield and work to get his defense up to par in the grass while his bat developed. Unfortunately, neither happened, as Walker was aggressively promoted to the majors and fans got to see not just disappointing defense, but also an underwhelming bat that may have been hindered by the renewed defensive focus and early promotion to the bigs. Now entering his fourth major league season, it is looking like a make-or-break year for the former top prospect, and much of that blame can be placed on the jockeying around between positions and levels.
In Wetherholt’s case, if this transition were to happen in his first professional season, I would be more open to that. Now, as Wetherholt appears ready for the bigs, it is too late for that major change. It would be organizational malpractice to see this happen again. JJ Wetherholt needs to have his feet somewhere on the dirt at Busch Stadium in 2026.