JJ Wetherholt Is Having One of the Most Dominant Rookie Seasons in Cardinals History

St. Louis Cardinals rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt certainly has looked like he belongs on a Major League Baseball field this season.

Wetherholt has played in just 71 games so far this season and yet he has cemented himself among the game's best overall second basemen in the league. Not just among the best rookies, but among the best overall second basemen in baseball. That's how good he has been this season.

After yet another explosive performance on Sunday, Wetherholt is slashing .268/.370/.428 with a .798 OPS, 12 homers, 34 RBIs, eight stolen bases, 35 walks, eight doubles and 49 runs scored. Wetherholt is already at 3.5 wins above replacement and it's only June 22. If the season ended today and a team got 3.5 wins above replacement from a rookie across an entire season, that would be awesome. To do so after just 71 games is almost unheard of. He's also in the 100th percentile in outs above average at 14.

JJ Wetherholt Has Been Incredible

Jun 21, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) reacts after hitting a home run during the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

All in all, he's doing a lot of everything. On Sunday, he made a bit of team history as well. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared that he tied the Cardinals rookie record with his third leadoff homer of the season.

"Oh, and yeah JJ Wetherholt just tied Bo Hart's record for leadoff homers by a Cardinals rookie," Goold wrote. "That was Wetherholt's third leadoff homer of the season. Hart (2003) was the most recent Cardinals rookie with that many, tying Lou Klein (1943) and Wally Moon (1954)."

On top of this, he became just the third member of the Cardinals with two multi-homer games before July, and the first since Albert Pujols back in 2001, per OpticSTATs.

JJ Wetherholt recorded his second career multi-HR game today against the Royals. He's the third Cardinals rookie with two multi-HR games prior to July, joining Albert Pujols in 2001 and Ken Boyer in 1955. pic.twitter.com/QdFsVM2iep
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 21, 2026

All of this is to say, what we're seeing out of Wetherholt so far this season is special. These aren't numbers you typically see out of a rookie anywhere, for the most part. And he's just 23 years old. If you're a Cardinals fan, you should be very excited about the future right now and it starts with Wetherholt. There's a real chance that he's an All-Star, Gold Glove Award winner, and the National League Rookie of the Year by the time the season ends if he can keep up this level of play.

Wetherholt entered the season with very high expectations. Somehow, he's been able to eclipse them all. And, again, it's just June 22.

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