JJ Wetherholt’s first swing in the majors set the tone for what became one of the Cardinals’ defining moments of 2026.
On Opening Day against the Tampa Bay Rays, the rookie stepped into his Major League debut and launched a solo homer to center field off Rays starter Drew Rasmussen. It was the first run St. Louis scored in the 2026 season, and it came with the kind of jolt that instantly puts a player on the map.
That blast landed at No. 5 in the Dealin’ the Cards podcast’s countdown of the 10 best Cardinals moments of the season, and it fit the billing: the rookie had arrived.
All offseason, the Cardinals had been lining Wetherholt up for the Opening Day second base job, and once Brendan Donovan was traded to the Seattle Mariners, the path looked clear. Wetherholt had already turned heads in Spring Training, then carried that momentum straight into his debut. Oliver Marmol put him in the leadoff spot right away, a major show of trust for a player making his first big league appearance.
Wetherholt entered the organization with serious expectations. He was the No. 7 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and a player many believed had top-overall-pick talent.
By the time he reached St. Louis, he was widely regarded as a top-five prospect in all of baseball.
The power production was one of the season’s bigger surprises. Wetherholt was expected to get on base, spray doubles and do damage with consistency, but he also finished with 17 home runs in 139 games. That total stands out even more when you consider that half his games came at Busch Stadium, which may have been the toughest park in baseball for home runs this past season.
His overall line settled at a 101 wRC+, and his numbers dropped sharply in the second half while he played through a wrist injury. Still, the season left plenty to build on. He was one of the best defenders in baseball this year, which gives him a high floor and a high ceiling, and the extension he earned reflected that kind of value.
Looking ahead, it would not be a shock to see Wetherholt grow into a 25-homer season with a .280+ average and a .370+ on-base percentage. The batting average matters for his long-term upside, but so does turning more of those contact skills into doubles. Fifteen doubles in 2026 would have looked like a partial season, and his swing suggests there’s more extra-base damage still coming.
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