Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals No. 1 Prospect JJ Wetherholt Taking Next Step To St. Louis: Breaking

JJ Wetherholt made another stride towards his big league debut...
Zach Pressnell|
Mar 5, 2025; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left feilder JJ Wetherholt (87) runs to second base against the Houston Astros during the second inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images
Mar 5, 2025; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left feilder JJ Wetherholt (87) runs to second base against the Houston Astros during the second inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals used their top draft pick in the 2024 MLB Draft to select versatile infielder JJ Wetherholt. Wetherholt quickly found himself placed at the top of the Cardinals top prospect rankings, just ahead of star pitching prospect Quinn Mathews.

Wetherholt spent 29 games at Low-A after being drafted last season before landing in Double-A this year. Through 62 games at the Double-A level, the star prospect is slashing .300/.425/.466 with seven home runs and 14 doubles.

After slugging two home runs on July 6, the Cardinals top prospect has seemingly played too well to continue at this level.

The Cardinals recently announced they were promoting Wetherholt to Triple-A.

The promotion to Triple-A is the next step toward a big-league promotion for the star infielder. He's spent a lot of his time playing shortstop at the Double-A level. This will likely change as he nears his big league debut because the Cardinals have Masyn Winn at shortstop. Wetherholt could look to slot in at second base while Brendan Donovan moves to a utility role.

If Wetherholt continues to terrorize minor league pitching, there's a chance the Cardinals fast track him to the big leagues this season as a piece of their postseason push. St. Louis is still in the race right now and a promotion of Wetherholt to the big leagues could be coming in the next few months.

The Cincinnati Reds fasttracked Chase Burns, their 2024 first round pick, to help make a postseason push. The Cardinals could do the same thing with Wetherholt.

Either way, this promotion to Triple-A is the last stop before he lands with the big league club, whether that be this year or next season.

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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