Breaking Down JJ Wetherholt's Magical Cardinals Debut

The second time Wetherholt stepped up to the plate, he hit the ball to center field, but made sure Mullins wouldn't get to it by crushing it over the fence for his first career big league home run. After all of the chatter of the last few months about the young infielder, it's only right that the very run of the season for St. Louis came thanks to a solo shot from the 23-year-old.

Cardinals fans over at Busch Stadium certainly showed love to Wetherholt after his third-inning blast put St. Louis ahead.

In the fifth inning, Wetherholt grounded out to first base and then responded in the sixth inning of Thursday's contest as he added his second RBI of his young career with a sacrifice fly to right field. Wetherholt finished his day with a strikeout in the eighth inning.

Overall, a phenomenal showing for the young infielder.

A homer and a sacrifice fly. That's perfect. He was robbed of a base hit in the first inning as well. Wetherholt got the start at second base and lived up to the hype. But it's just Game 1 of 162. What stood out the most for the 23-year-old was his poise at the plate. Even in the at-bats he got out, they were good at-bats. He didn't look like a 23-year-old rookie up there, but instead a veteran who has been around the block.

Every game isn't going to be as good as Thursday was for him, but it was a good showing at home. It also doesn't hurt that St. Louis took down the Rays in general. The Cardinals ended up coming out on top 9-7, despite some nerves late. Matthew Liberatore allowed one run in five innings, Wetherholt shined, Alec Burleson hit a homer and Nathan Church racked up three base hits in his first audition in left field. All in all, a near-perfect day for the Cardinals. St. Louis baseball is back and the Cardinals will face the Rays again on Saturday and Sunday.