Prior to landing on the injured list, Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt was having an excellent rookie season and was seen as a leading candidate to win the NL Rookie of the Year award. The latter is still true, but he has unfortunately been out of action since August 30th with right wrist tendinitis, for which he received a pain-killing injection. Wetherholt progressed to hitting off the pitching machine at Busch Stadium on Friday and will do so again tomorrow, according to John Denton of Roundtable Sports. He is hoping to make it back for the Cardinals’ final home stand, which concludes on September 20th against the Nationals.
“It’s really all up to how I feel and how [I go about] through things (during the rehab process),” Wetherholt told reporters. “Obviously, you don’t want to not play, and you want to play (again in 2026)… But I’m trying to do everything I can to get back.” Manager Oli Marmol clarified that there is no firm timeline for the rookie’s return. Wetherholt will go through a full pregame routine on Tuesday, and a final decision will be made on Wednesday.
After today’s 3-1 win over the White Sox, the Cardinals are 74-76 and seven games out of the third NL Wild Card spot. The Padres hold that position as of this writing, and in all likelihood, it will go to either them or the Diamondbacks, who are two games behind. With the Cardinals likely to miss the postseason for the fifth straight year, there is no immediate need to bring Wetherholt back for the final home stand. Marmol and the medical staff can be expected to play it safe with their long-term second baseman, whose recent eight-year, $112.5MM extension will keep him with the Redbirds through 2034.
If Wetherholt does manage to make it back for a few games, it would put a nice bow on a phenomenal debut season. Having entered the season as a consensus Top 100 prospect, Wetherholt announced his presence by establishing himself as a premier defender at the keystone. He’s played over 1,000 defensive innings at second and accumulated +13 Defensive Runs Saved and +21 Outs Above Average.
The former mark is tied with the Pirates’ Brandon Lowe for fourth-best among qualified second basemen. The 21 OAA is tops at the position, with Lowe’s 14 OAA a distant second. In fact, Wetherholt’s 21 OAA makes him the third-best defender at any position, with only Pete Crow-Armstrong (25 OAA) and Bobby Witt Jr. (23 OAA) ahead of him.
Wetherholt has paired that generational defense with a strong performance at the plate. Across 586 plate appearances, he is batting .242/.343/.370 with 17 home runs. Although his bat speed and barrel rate are just below average, Wetherholt has done a good job of making hard contact, grading out above average by exit velocity (89.9 mph) and hard-hit rate (44.8%). Adding in a sharp 16.2% strikeout rate and 14 stolen bases, and you have a solid all-around hitter who could show more power if his batted ball luck starts to turn.
In Wetherholt, Alec Burleson, and Jordan Walker, the Cardinals have a solid offensive core to rally around in 2027. Masyn Winn is an excellent defender at shortstop, though the team could look for third base and pitching reinforcements over the offseason as they look to return to contention.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
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