The St. Louis Cardinals certainly should be happy with No. 1 prospect JJ Wetherholt’s performance so far this season for the organization.
Wetherholt has entered the big leagues in style with his first career big league homer on Opening Day. Then, just one game later, he logged the first walk-off hit of his big league career. Wetherholt has played in all four games for St. Louis so far this season and is slashing .250/.316/.438 with one homer, four RBIs, one stolen base, two walks and three runs scored. That’s a lot of production right out the gate.
The 23-year-old has been everything the Cardinals could’ve hoped for to kick off the season. One of the biggest talking points of the 2026 season is going to be how Wetherholt compares to the other rookies around the league. He entered the campaign with plenty around the league tabbing him as a potential Rookie of the Year Award candidate. If he can win the award this season, he would be the first rookie to win it in St. Louis since Albert Pujols in 2001. But how does he compare to his rookie peers so far? Bleacher Report currently has Wetherholt ranked as the No. 3 overall rookie in baseball right now and the No. 2 rookie in the National League, behind New York Mets hurler Nolan McLean.
It’s the JJ Wetherholt show
Mar 30, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) fields a ground ball against the New York Mets during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
“No. 3. 2B JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals,” Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter wrote. “After displaying an elite hit tool throughout his time at West Virginia, infielder JJ Wetherholt crushed upper-minors pitching last year in his first full professional season. The 23-year-old logged a .306/.421/.510 line with 28 doubles, 17 home runs, 59 RBI and 23 steals in 109 games. With the Cardinals clearly in rebuilding mode, he entered camp as the favorite to win the second base job.
“He homered in his MLB debut and delivered the walk-off hit in his second game. It’s not out of the question to think he could be the most productive hitter in St. Louis’ lineup in 2026.”
McLean and Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle are the two rookies listed ahead of Wetherholt. McLean has made one start so far this season and allowed two earned runs across five innings of work. McGonigle is slashing .357/.471/.500 with two doubles and four RBIs in four games. It’s hard to argue against him in the top spot. Arguably, Wetherholt should be ahead of McLean right now, but that’s just one person’s opinion.
At the end of the day, it’s obviously early to be talking about how the rookies compare to one another. What’s most important is how Wetherholt has performed for St. Louis. He has been as advertised. Later on in the season, we’ll have a better idea of how he compares with the other rookies of the season. So far, so good, though for the young infielder.