JJ Wetherholt’s Leadoff OBP Is Quietly Trailing Just Shohei Ohtani

There has been a lot of excitement at the top of the order for the St. Louis Cardinals so far this season.

No. 1 prospect JJ Wetherholt not only made the big league club out of camp, but he was placed firmly at the top of the order for the organization. Wetherholt entered the day on Sunday with 20 games under his belt in the majors so far. Of those 20 contests, Wetherholt appeared as the team's leadoff hitter in 19 of them. On April 3, Wetherholt came in as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning and and went 0-for-2.

Wetherholt entered the day on Sunday with a .236/.380/.375 slash line with three homers, nine RBIs, 14 walks and four stolen bases on the season in general. In the 19 games that he has batted leadoff, he has a .389 on-base percentage. While you'd obviously like the batting average number to be a bit higher, he is doing everything the Cardinals need at the top of the order and getting on base. So much so that he actually has the second-highest on-base percentage in baseball among leadoff guys behind just Shohei Ohtani.

JJ Wetherholt Is Just Behind Shohei Ohtani

Apr 18, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder José Fermín (15) is congratulated by second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) after hitting a home run to left field against the Houston Astros during the sixth inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Highest OBP from the leadoff position (min. 70 PAs):

1) .396 - Shohei Ohtani
2) .389 - JJ WETHERHOLT
3) .385 - James Wood
4) .381 - Brandon Nimmo

The plate discipline from JJ has been fantastic early on. He's been a great leadoff hitter for this team 🙌 pic.twitter.com/GNfvmWEiep
— Cardinals Stats And Facts (@STL_Stats_Facts) April 19, 2026

Any time that you are on a list with Ohtani, you're doing something right. Ohtani is in a league of his own. There's no denying that fact. There isn't another player in baseball like Ohtani and there may never be another. Wetherholt has played in just 20 big league games, and has been at the top of the order for 19 of them. He already has made a significant impact with the organization.

Wetherholt is getting on base at an elite clip and also is in the 97th percentile in outs above average. Let's also not forget that he's just 23 years old. It's pretty safe to say that it looks like the Cardinals have found a legit, budding star.

He's just scratching the surface as well. Again, right now he's batting just .236. That number is going to go up at some point. He's still getting on base at an elite clip, despite the ball not dropping for him consistently. The second that starts happening, the on-base number is only going to rise higher.

There's been some buzz out there about the idea of the Cardinals and Wetherholt potentially talking extension. St. Louis absolutely should get a deal done as fast as possible. If he keeps playing like this, the price tag is only going to go up significantly.

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