1 frustrating but understandable reason why Cardinals may not call up JJ Wetherholt

St. Louis Cardinals top prospect JJ Wetherholt just hit yet another leadoff home run for the Memphis Redbirds on Tuesday night, continuing his tear at the Triple-A level and having fans clamoring for his debut to come sooner rather than later.

Well, as fun as it would be to see him in mid- to late August (if the Cardinals deemed he was truly ready to make his debut), there is one factor that most fans aren't considering yet that may hold them back from making that promotion.

Yes, it's that pesky roster crunch, and no, I don't even mean the 26-man roster. I'm talking about some really difficult 40-man roster decisions on the horizon for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals' 40-man roster conundrum this offseason may hold them back from promoting JJ Wetherholt in 2025.

In 2023, Masyn Winn got called up to St. Louis to finish out the season, and while he struggled quite a bit at the plate in that small stretch, it allowed Winn to get his feet wet and prepare himself for his first full big league season in 2024. Wetherholt could benefit greatly from a similar opportunity, but the Cardinals' asset management issues that lie ahead for Chaim Bloom this offseason may complicate that timeline.

This offseason, the Cardinals need to protect four of their top 10 prospects (Leonardo Bernal, Jimmy Crooks, Joshua Baez, and Cooper Hjerpe) from the Rule 5 draft, as well as their 16th-, 17th-, 20th-, and 30th-ranked prospects (Nathan Church, Brycen Mautz, Max Rajcic, and Cesar Prieto) as well, or risk losing them to an opposing club for nothing. While Prieto, Rajcic, and maybe even Mautz may be safe to leave unprotected, it's a lock that the Cardinals add Bernal, Crooks, Baez, and Church to the 40-man, and may do the same with Hjerpe as well.

That's eight prospects right there that could make an argument for an addition to the 40-man, which is already 20% turnover of the group they currently have. Between Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, Steven Matz, Roddery Munoz, Miles Mikolas, and Garrett Hampson, the Cardinals can clear most of those spots, but that gives them no flexibility to add any prospects they acquire at this deadline or players/prospects that Bloom may want to target in the offseason.

Sure, more space could be created by removing Matt Koperniak, Jose Fermin, Chris Roycroft, Zack Thompson, or John King, but again, that's still very little flexibility. The Cardinals also cannot use the 60-day IL during the offseason to create space, so Thompson, Hjerpe, Tekoah Roby, and Sem Robberse will all hold spots on the 40-man even though they won't pitch to begin 2026.

And yes, there is the potential that the club moves on from some of their young big league talent, but that may or may not open up space depending on the players they acquire.

The point is, there are a lot of pieces the Cardinals need to determine the future of on their 40-man roster for this offseason, making each spot on that roster a valuable tool for them this winter. While it may not seem like a big deal to potentially lose one of those guys, I'm sure people would be very upset if that player went on to have a ton of success elsewhere.

Now here's the thing: if they believe a promotion for Wetherholt this season will set him up for success come 2026, they have to prioritize that. He's a special talent and one they have not had in the organization in a long time, so as much as they need to not lose any assets right now, they also need to be in the business of doing what is in the best interest of their best asset.

They shouldn't rush him by any means. Just because we want to see Wetherholt doesn't mean he should be here. But if Bloom, Rob Cerfolio, and the rest of the Cardinals' player development staff think Wetherholt is ready, then when the date passes in a few weeks, when they can maintain his rookie eligibility for 2026, make the call-up.

Wetherholt slugged his fifth Triple-A home run tonight in just his 12th game at the level. Coming into tonight's action, Wetherholt was slashing .333/.391/.762 for Memphis, good for a 1.153 OPS. In 73 games between Double-A and Triple-A prior to tonight, Wetherholt was slashing .306/421/.513 on the year. Most prospect rankings now have him within the top 15 or top 10 prospects in all of baseball, with multiple outlets having him all the way up in the top 5, including Keith Law and Just Baseball.

Wetherholt is coming, and that may be as soon as a few weeks from now, but if we have to wait until 2026, that's not the end of the world! Do what is in the best interest of the player, but there are some organizational factors that do come into play here.