{"id":645468,"date":"2026-03-26T23:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/645468\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T23:28:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:28:18","slug":"breaking-down-jj-wetherholts-magical-cardinals-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/645468\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Down JJ Wetherholt’s Magical Cardinals Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. Louis Cardinals No. 1 prospect JJ Wetherholt made his Major League Baseball debut on Thursday and he wasted no time showing the fanbase what he can do. <\/p>\n

Wetherholt led off for the Cardinals in the season opener and flew out to center field in his first big league at-bat thanks to a diving play by veteran center fielder Cedric Mullins<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Cardinals phenom struck\"St.<\/p>\n

Mar 26, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) reacts after hitting a solo home run for his first major league hit during his major league debut in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

JJ Wetherolt flies out to CF in his first MLB plate appearance<\/p>\n

He had a 7 pitch AB and made Drew Rasmussen work for the out pic.twitter.com\/OTohckWm1F<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Adam Akbani (@AdamAkbani) March 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The second time Wetherholt stepped up to the plate, he hit the ball to center field, but made sure Mullins wouldn’t get to it by crushing it over the fence for his first career big league home run<\/a>. After all of the chatter of the last few months about the young infielder, it’s only right that the very run of the season for St. Louis came thanks to a solo shot from the 23-year-old. <\/p>\n

JJ WETHERHOLT \ud83d\ude24<\/p>\n

He leaves the yard in his Major League debut! pic.twitter.com\/4NNDZYirt6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MLB (@MLB) March 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Cardinals fans over at Busch Stadium certainly showed love<\/a> to Wetherholt after his third-inning blast put St. Louis ahead.<\/p>\n

A curtain call for the kid #OpeningDay<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/iLO0Jzhjki<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/5gOlU5xihg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MLB (@MLB) March 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

In the fifth inning, Wetherholt grounded out to first base and then responded in the sixth inning of Thursday’s contest as he added his second RBI of his young career with a sacrifice fly to right field. Wetherholt finished his day with a strikeout in the eighth inning. <\/p>\n

Overall, a phenomenal showing for the young infielder. <\/p>\n

A homer and a sacrifice fly. That’s perfect. He was robbed of a base hit in the first inning as well. Wetherholt got the start at second base and lived up to the hype. But it’s just Game 1 of 162. What stood out the most for the 23-year-old was his poise at the plate. Even in the at-bats he got out, they were good at-bats. He didn’t look like a 23-year-old rookie up there, but instead a veteran who has been around the block. <\/p>\n

Every game isn’t going to be as good as Thursday was for him, but it was a good showing at home. It also doesn’t hurt that St. Louis took down the Rays in general. The Cardinals ended up coming out on top 9-7, despite some nerves late. Matthew Liberatore allowed one run in five innings, Wetherholt shined, Alec Burleson hit a homer and Nathan Church racked up three base hits in his first audition in left field. All in all, a near-perfect day for the Cardinals. St. Louis baseball is back and the Cardinals will face the Rays again on Saturday and Sunday. <\/p>\n