Aug 15, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; A detailed view of a baseball glove and St. Louis Cardinals hat in the dugout during the game between the Cardinals and the Miami Marlins at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

Former Cardinals Stars React To JJ Wetherholt Decision

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Aug 20, 2025 5:00 PM ET

When will St. Louis Cardinals phenom JJ Wetherholt make the jump to the big leagues?

Despite all of the noise out there right now, a promotion is not imminent. The Athletic's Katie Woo reported that the club "have not entertained" the idea of calling up the young infielder yet.

"According to a team source, the Cardinals have not entertained calling up top prospect JJ Wetherholt during this stretch, who is hitting .310 with nine homers, 17 RBIs and a whopping 1.073 OPS since being promoted to Memphis on July 7," Woo said. "Wetherholt, the No. 7 pick in last year’s amateur draft, was named the Cardinals’ minor-league player of the month for July last week. It’s worth noting that at this point in the season, rookie eligibility in 2026 would be preserved if Wetherholt were promoted to the major leagues."

He's 22 years old and has just 26 games of experience at the Triple-A level. It'd be great to see him in the majors at some point, but there isn't a consistent role available. The topic clearly is going to be talked about at length, but there's no reason to risk him right now.

Beyond this, there are discussions about how the timing of a potential promotion could impact status beyond this season and long-term contracts and figures. Former Cardinals stars Matt Holliday and Lance Lynn weighed in on the discussion on the "Serving it Up!" podcast with Jim Hayes.

Ex-Cardinals stars weigh in on No. 1 prospect JJ Wetherholt

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

"I think they're all, all the organizations with these top prospects, are waiting until I think around August 15th where a player can play all of the rest of the games and not lose their rookie status," Holliday said. "...I think you'll see those guys, but I think it will be after the date where they can have their rookie status next year."

"Unfortunately, as a player, I'd say you want to get up there and have as much time as you can," Lynn said. "Big league service time is what you're all about. There's two ways to look at it: One, if you come up now and lose rookie status, you have no chance to win Rookie of the Year and get in the bonus pool. So, for their sake, if you wait 15 days and still be a rookie next year, you have a chance to make more money your quote-on-quote rookie year but costs you 15 days of service time and a full paycheck. There's good and there's bad with both. I think all in all if you come up and do your job next year, you win NL Rookie of the Year and get in this bonus pool, it's going to benefit you in the long run..."

There's more to this conversation than just playing time. It's complicated and with that being said, don't expect anything in the very near future.

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

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