Why JJ Wetherholt's First Week with Cardinals Has Been Near-Perfect

The St. Louis Cardinals are off to a strong start in 2026. They have won each of their first two series and leave town with a 4-2 record as they prepare for a matchup with the Detroit Tigers.

Leading the way has been rookie phenom JJ Wetherholt, who made the opening day roster after a strong spring. He also hit his first career home run on opening day and picked up a walk-off hit in the second game of the season.

Will Leitch of MLB.com even predicts that Wetherholt could be even better than expected in 2026 and had him as somebody who could reach a 100 OPS+ by the end of the season.

JJ Wetherholt has been near-perfect

Mar 31, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) hits a single against the New York Mets during the third inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

""Wetherholt’s bat-to-ball skills and his plate coverage are his primary attributes as a hitter, but as we saw with that first homer, he has more pop than many realize; there’s no reason to think he won’t be a 20-homer hitter at some point, maybe even this year," Leitch wrote.

"He will have peaks and valleys like any rookie, but there’s a reason he’s one of the favorites for the Rookie of the Year Award. This will be the first of many, many above-average offensive seasons for him."

Wetherholt is hitting .280 with four RBI and a .721 OPS to start the season. While a 100 OPS+ might be a low bar for the Rookie of the Year candidate, he still has been every bit as good as advertised, and the power will eventually come after he hit his first career home run.

The Cardinals tore down their roster this past winter, but they still have a lot of young talent in the lineup led by Wetherholt, and as long as he can keep up this pace, he'll be in good shape. But so far, his first week with St. Louis has been pretty impressive.

Wetherholt seems like a very strong candidate to win the National League Rookie of the Year award. More weeks like his first in St. Louis will put him on a solid path to potentially winning that award.

It will be interesting to see if he can keep up this pace. Wetherholt's emergence could lead to the Cardinals being a much better team than expected. There is a lot for fans to be excited about, and if Wetherholt truly does burst onto the scene like expected, then his rookie season will be a success.