2026 Fantasy Baseball Breakout Player - ADP Riser: JJ Wetherholt

The spring training reports have been positive on JJ Wetherholt. He has four hits over his first 12 at-bats with five runs, one home run, four RBIs, and one steal while showcasing a leadoff approach (seven walks and three strikeouts.

SS JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

His ADP was 292 in early January as the fantasy market waited to see him on the field. In the same format (15-team DCs), JJ Wetherholt has a new ADP of 244, letting him backdraft Konnor Griffin up draft boards.

JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals (NFBC ADP – 244)

In the #STLCards' search for a lead-off hitter, the answer seems obvious: JJ Wetherholt pic.twitter.com/Ihqqvv0ouW

— STL Sports Central (@STLSprtsCntrl) March 6, 2026

After a productive three seasons at West Virginia (.370/148/29/129/16 over 557 at-bats), the St. Louis Cardinals drafted Wetherholt seventh overall in the 2024 MLB June Amateur Draft. He missed two months of his final year in college with a hamstring injury.

The Cardinals gave him 29 games of experience at A Ball in 2024 (.295/18/2/20/2 over 105 at-bats). Wetherholt played well at AA (.300/39/7/34/14 over 223 at-bats) and AAA (.314/43/10/25/9 over 185 at-bats) last season. He had just as many walks (88 – 14.1%) as strikeouts (88 – 14.1%) in the minors.

His exit velocity (91.4) and hard-hit rate (48.1%) graded well last year at AAA. Wetherholt had a low fly-ball rate (31.6%) in 2025 in the minors with surprising strength in his HR/FB rate (16.0%).

🗣️ JJ WETHERHOLT HOME RUN HALF WAY UP THE BATTERS EYE OFF DEVIN WILLIAMS 😤💣 pic.twitter.com/kBlj2xo0xd

— Cardinals Talk (@theredbird_way) February 27, 2026

Fantasy Outlook: The Cardinals should start Wetherholt in the majors this year, with a goal of batting him in their lead-off slot. His average hit rate (1.664) suggests his early ceiling in power in the majors would be closer to the 15 home run range.

He projects as a breakout deep sleeper player in 2026, with the tools to post a .275/80/15/65/25 year in his rookie season. Once Wetherholt makes the opening day roster for St. Louis, his ADP will rise even more. I could make a case to draft him over six other shortstops drafted in front of him, and he is still the 24th shortstop drafted in early June.

Based on my early projections (.269 with 85 runs, 16 home runs, 55 RBIs, and 29 steals over 529 at-bats) ranked by FPGscore, Wetherholt is the 6th-best second base option (needs to qualify for the position) while ranking 16th at shortstop, just ahead of Bo Bichette.