Apr 9, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; The St. Louis Cardinals equipment manger scrubs the team batting helmets before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Cardinals' Top Prospect Quietly Emerging Into Franchise Cornerstone

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Zach Pressnell | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals are seemingly entering a rebuilding stage in their franchise. They opted to trade away stars like Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, and Steven Matz at the trade deadline and even entertained the idea of moving players like Brendan Donovan and Sonny Gray.

At the end of the day, the Cardinals didn't commit to a fire sale before the deadline.

But there are still a lot of things to be excited for in St. Louis. The team has a lot of young talent in the big leagues, but the minor league system is loaded with up and coming prospects.

FanSided's Zachary Rotman recently shared high praise for top Cardinals prospect JJ Wetherholt and urged the team to promote the young star to the big leagues.

JJ Wetherholt should be in the big leagues already

Rich Storry-Imagn Images

"There's no reason not to promote Wetherholt at this point. The Cardinals are without both Donovan and Nolan Arenado for who knows how long, and after getting swept by the New York Yankees over the weekend, they're now 61-64 on the year," Rotman wrote. "Unlikely runs to the postseason can happen, but the Cardinals are currently 5.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot. They already traded Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz and Phil Maton at the deadline knowing their postseason odds were slim. Why not play for the future?

"I'd even go out on a limb and say the Cardinals would give themselves the best chance to save their season and truly compete for a playoff spot by promoting Wetherholt. Who on this team has a higher ceiling right now? We've seen Wetherholt crush Triple-A pitching, who's to say he won't become a potent middle-of-the-order threat down the stretch and help lead the Cardinals to some important wins?"

There's no reason Wetherholt isn't in the big leagues at this point. He's crushed Triple-A pitching to the point that it's laughable that St. Louis hasn't called him up. At this point in the year, the front office isn't manipulating his service time.

With Donovan heading to the injured list with a groin injury, Wetherholt has a clear path to come up and start at second base. This would allow him to get comfortable in the big leagues for the last few weeks of this year before the Cardinals likely use him as an everyday infielder in 2026.

Keeping him down in Triple-A doesn't make any sense at this point. The Cardinals need to call him up.

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

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