Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt Primed for More Than Just Opening Day Roster Spot

It's seemingly a guarantee that JJ Wetherholt will make the opening day roster and start for the Cardinals...

Feb 27, 2026; Jupiter, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter JJ Wetherholt (77) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the New York Mets during the fourth inning at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have opted to lean heavily into a rebuild this offseason, which included four massive trades that sent Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, and Willson Contreras to contending teams.

These deals helped load up the Cardinals farm system with a lot of talent. Last season, the St. Louis farm system wasn't anything to call home about. But now, it's one of the best units in all of baseball and these four offseason trades are a big reason why.

But the Cardinals have prospects like JJ Wetherholt, Quinn Mathews, and Liam Doyle who have been in the organization. These three help lead the farm system, with the expectation being that two of the three will crack into the big leagues this season.

CBS Sports' RJ Anderson recently predicted the Cardinals would use Wetherholt on their opening day roster, but this seems like a given at this point. Wetherholt should be talked about as a Rookie of the Year candidate instead of a player trying to make the roster.

JJ Wetherholt is primed for an NL Rookie of the Year campaign

Feb 16, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals infielder JJ Wetherholt (77) during spring training workouts at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

"There may not be a top prospect with a cleaner path to an Opening Day roster spot than Wetherholt. The Cardinals traded away three infielders during the winter, including second baseman Brendan Donovan and third baseman Nolan Arenado, without adding anyone to the mix," Anderson wrote. "Wetherholt isn't on the 40-man roster, yet he hit .314/.416/.562 with 10 home runs and nine stolen bases in 47 Triple-A games and faces minimum barrier to entry. Besides, there's enough playing time to go around if the Cardinals still want to provide at-bats to Thomas Saggese and/or José Fermín throughout the year."

Wetherholt should have been brought up to the big leagues late last season, but the Cardinals opted to be patient. Now there's almost no chance they don't start him at second base on opening day and most of the season after that.

Wetherholt has superstar potential written all over him. He's a good defender, but it's his bat that's going to make him a NL Rookie of the Year candidate. He has the ability to be a 25 or 30 home run bat within his first few years in the league. Pair that with the fact that he has incredible bat to ball skills and the speed to steal bases and the Cardinals have a real candidate for the Rookie of the Year award.

The Cardinals infielder will be competing with players like Konnor Griffin, Nolan McLean, and Sal Stewart.