JJ Wetherholt Makes Rare Cardinals History in MLB Debut

St. Louis Cardinals fans got a glimpse into what the future of this organization can be on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Obviously, it was just one game, but the young Cardinals were resilient and flashed the massive upside that is here. This roster is young. There are going to be times throughout the season in which they are inconsistent and probably struggle. That's what happens with young guys finding their place in the league. But Opening Day was the perfect summation of what this club could look like. JJ Wetherholt made his debut and made an instant impact at the top of the order. The Cardinals fell behind, but stormed back with a massive eight-run sixth inning and young guys all throughout the lineup contributed to the win, including Alec Burleson, Masyn Winn, Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker, Nathan Church Victor Scott II, to name a few.

The Cardinals phenom spoke after Opening Day

Mar 26, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) hits a solo home run for his first major league hit during his major league debut in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

It was a great day overall and the excitement started early as Wetherholt blasted his first big league home run in just his second at-bat. After the game, Wetherholt opened up about his big league debut, as seen in a video shared to X by KSDK News' Corey Miller.

"Ton of excitement, you know, wow," Wetherholt said. "Just kind of hard to put into words. But honestly took me back. Like my first at-bat as a freshman in college was a home run, so it was like, 'Dang.' Did it again pretty much.

"I was honestly hyped with the boys and thought it was over but they were all like, 'You've got to go out there, you've got to go out there.' And so out I went. It was great. Honestly, I was sitting down after the inning like 'Dang, we just got punched in the face.' Thought we weren't in the best spot and then the boys just started getting it going, getting it going, getting it going and was able to contribute a little bit."

It was a historic shot for Wetherholt as well. He became the first member of the Cardinals to collect their first big league hit and home run in one swing on Opening Day since Bobby Smith did it back in 1969, per MLB.com's Brenden Schaeffer.

"Wetherholt became the first Cardinal to connect for his first big league hit and home run in one fell swoop since Paul DeJong (2017)," Schaeffer wrote. "He’s the first Cardinal to accomplish the feat in an MLB debut on Opening Day in 69 years, since Bobby Smith did it against the Cincinnati Redlegs at Crosley Field on April 16, 1957."

It's hard not to be excited about this kid. The homer is nice, but overall he had a big impact at the top of the order. He strung together good at-bats, hit the homer and also had a sacrifice fly on the day. He's just 23 years old. If the Cardinals got this version of him every day, that would be great. But he's just going to get better.

It's one game and everything is an overreaction at this point because the sample size is small. But the young Cardinals came to play and showed what they can be when they are firing on all cylinders.