Mar 5, 2025; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left feilder JJ Wetherholt (87) runs to second base against the Houston Astros during the second inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images Rich Storry-Imagn Images

JJ Wetherholt By The Numbers; Projected Cardinals Debut

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals have one of the top overall prospects in baseball in JJ Wetherholt.

By now, you've heard all about him. The reason for this is the fact that he's not just the Cardinals' top prospect, but one of the top overall prospects in baseball. That's how highly the league overall thinks of this kid just over one year after being drafted by St. Louis.

Wetherholt was selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Since then, he's done nothing short of impress. In 2024, Wetherholt played 29 games with the Class-A Palm Beach Cardinals and slashed .295/.405/.400 with two homers, 20 RBIs, two stolen bases, five doubles, and 18 runs scored in his first taste of professional baseball.

He's had a meteoric rise in 2024. He began the season with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. In 62 games, .300/.425/.466 with seven home runs, 34 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, 14 doubles, one triple, and 39 runs scored. He played well enough to get a promotion to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds and has been even better there.

In 26 games, Wetherholt is slashing .310/.403/.670 with nine home runs, 17 RBIs, three stolen bases, seven doubles, one triple, and 25 runs scored.

Cardinals phenom JJ Wetherholt is making his case for 2025 MLB Debut

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Wetherholt is making it hard for the Cardinals to not promote him. This is the biggest talking point when it comes to St. Louis right now. The trade deadline is behind us and the Cardinals don't look like a playoff team. Because of this, there has been a clamoring for Wetherholt's promotion. He's mkaing his case. MLB.com still has his projected MLB debut to be in 2026, though.

There's certainly a good chance that Wetherholt will be in the mix for the Cardinals on a consistent basis come Opening Day in 2026. Right now, a promotion doesn't seem imminent. The Cardinals just put Brendan Donovan on the Injured List and Nolan Arenado is still on the IL. This would've been an interesting time to bring him up, which some talked about, but then he wouldn't have gotten a consistent chance because both veterans will return at some point.

If Wetherholt is going to get a chance this year, it likely won't be unless the team can give him consistent time. Why call him up to sit on the bench? If he's coming up, don't expect him until September at the earliest. But, 2026 still is more likely.

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

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