Feb 25, 2025; Dunedin, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter JJ Wetherholt (87) prepares for batting practice before a spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Answering Biggest Question Facing Cardinals in 2026

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Zach Pressnell | Last updated Feb 15, 2026 12:09 PM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals have made a slew of big decisions over the course of the offseason. They made a slew of trades to dump veterans like Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado to contending teams while freeing up spots for young prospects.

But they still have a lot of big questions to answer this year. In fact, the Cardinals have more questions than answers with the current state of their roster.

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Bleacher Report's Zachary Rymer recently posed the biggest question facing each team in MLB this season. For the Cardinals, Rymer asked this simple question: "How soon is too soon for JJ Wetherholt?"

How soon is too soon for JJ Wetherholt?

Rich Storry-Imagn Images

"Speaking of hyped NL Central shortstop prospects, Wetherholt would sure seem to be closer to the majors than Griffin," Rymer wrote. "He's 22 years old and he was even better in 47 games at Triple-A last year than he was in 62 games at Double-A.

"He's an obvious candidate to crack the Cardinals' Opening Day roster, with the catch being that it won't be at shortstop. That's Masyn Winn's spot, and he's too good defensively to move somewhere else in deference to the kid."

Wetherholt will likely begin the season as the Cardinals starting second baseman and he's seemingly ready for the role. Opening day almost certainly isn't too soon for the young infielder.

The answer to the question is likely some point last year would have been too soon, but Wetherholt could have held his own in the big leagues down the stretch. He dominated Triple-A during the home stretch of last season, so much so that there were fans calling for him to be brought up to MLB.

But the Cardinals made the right decision to be conservative. After a productive offseason and hopefully a productive spring, Wetherholt should be in the perfect position to take over for Donovan at second base.

Still, he hasn't made the roster yet, so spring training is going to be crucial in his pursuit of starting on opening day.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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