JJ Wetherholt Era Begins as Cardinals Make Right Call

It's officially the JJ Wetherholt era with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Much has been said about the Cardinals' phenom throughout Spring Training. It has been the expectation that Wetherholt would break camp with the team, but St. Louis hadn't made the news official until Monday. First and foremost, the Cardinals shared a video to X transitioning Wetherholt's jersey from No. 77 to his preferred No. 26 for the season.

👀 pic.twitter.com/FnXbKl1lJm
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 23, 2026

The Cardinals phenom is making the jump to the majors

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

If this wasn't clear enough, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom confirmed that Wetherholt has in fact made the Opening Day roster, as shared on X by Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.

"JJ Wetherholt is on the opening day roster, Bloom says," Jones wrote on X. "Saggese, Fermín, Church as well. Nelson Velázquez will be assigned to Memphis."

Wetherholt earned his spot with the big league club. It's going to be a year of development for the young Cardinals and Wetherholt's adjustment to the big league game is going to go a long way in determining how long this reset lasts for the organization as a whole. If Wetherholt can step in and look like a star, that's going to completely change the perception of the team. Wetherholt enters the 2026 season as the No. 5 overall prospect in baseball, per MLB.com.

Wetherholt crushed two homers, drove in seven runs and walked nine times with a .780 OPS in 15 games in Spring Training for St. Louis.

It's been a meteoric rise for the Cardinals' No. 1 prospect. He was selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft out of West Virginia University. He's set to make his big league debut after playing in just 138 games down in the minors. Over that stretch, he slashed .304/.418/.487 with 19 homers, 79 RBIs, 25 stolen bases, 33 doubles, two triples and 100 runs scored.

Wetherholt making the jump to the big leagues isn't a shock, especially after there were people calling on him to get the call to the majors in 2025 before the season wrapped up. St. Louis didn't get cute with the decision and now we're going to see how Wetherholt and Masyn Winn can match up together in the middle infield. Wetherholt is 23 years old and Winn just turned 24 years old. The future is very bright and it starts on March 26.