Cardinals Writer Makes Controversial JJ Wetherholt Assessment

"Even with third baseman Nolan Arenado and second baseman Brendan Donovan on the IL, St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol is trying to squeeze in playing time for Masyn Winn, Nolan Gorman, and Thomas Saggese," Gauvain wrote. "Alec Burleson and Ivan Herrera are rotating between corner outfield duties and designated hitter appearances. There's not much time or space for Wetherholt on the major-league roster as things currently stand.

"You don't promote a prospect of Wetherholt's caliber unless you intend on playing him every day. There's an argument that you make the roster work around JJ Wetherholt rather than the other way around, but the focus throughout the 2025 season in the majors has been to give young players full runway to prove their value or lack thereof. Bumping down Thomas Saggese, who is still only 23 and is 11 for his last 41, and Nolan Gorman, who has a .936 OPS over his last 11 games, for Wetherholt is a difficult argument to make."

Every player listed who is supposedly blocking Wetherholt from receiving consistent playing time is under contract for next season, too. Would that mean the Cardinals would leave their top prospect in Triple-A next year?

This doesn't make too much sense, as Wetherholt is the level of prospect that a team builds around. If he was the team's fifth or sixth ranked prospect, this argument would make sense. But he's the fifth or sixth ranked prospect in all of baseball.

The star infielder has proved he can dominate at Triple-A. It's time for the Cardinals to bring him up to the big leagues to see what he can do. The rest of the roster can form around him.