3 Cardinals prospects who could take JJ Wetherholt's crown as the best in the system

When prospect groups throughout the country were releasing their top-100 prospect lists prior to the 2026 season, placing JJ Wetherholt at the top for the St. Louis Cardinals was a no-brainer. Wetherholt, a former first-round draft pick, was coming off the heels of a fantastic 2025 season.

JJ slashed .306/.421/.510 last year with 17 home runs, 28 doubles, and 72 walks to 73 strikeouts. He earned that top prospect nomination, and many outlets even had him as a top-five prospect in all of baseball. Wetherholt started the 2026 season on the Cardinals Opening Day roster playing second base and leading off. He's widely considered a top National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Wetherholt is a mere 50 plate appearances from graduating as a prospect and losing his rookie status. Therefore, there will be an opening at the top of the Cardinals' prospect rankings. Which current Cardinals prospect could take his spot at the top?

Will Rainiel Rodriguez, Liam Doyle, or Joshua Baez replace JJ Wetherholt as the St. Louis Cardinals best prospect?

OF Joshua Baez

MLB Pipeline rank: #4

Joshua Baez had a superb 2025 season, and he returned to national prospect lists in short order. He finished last year with a .287/.384/.500 slash line, 20 home runs, and 54 stolen bases between High-A and Double-A. That level of production boosted him to Triple-A Memphis for the 2026 season.

Baez hasn't been able to find as much success to start this year; he's slashing just .206/.308/.397 with three home runs and five stolen bases in 18 games. His strikeout rate has climbed back up to 30%, and his walk rate is sitting at 7.7%. He's appeared slightly off all year.

Baez would be a long shot to take the top spot in the near future.

LHP Liam Doyle

MLB Pipeline rank: #2

Liam Doyle was the Cardinals' first-round draft pick last year, going fifth overall. Doyle boasts a 70-grade fastball with a decent splitter. He's been working on developing additional secondary pitches, particularly his changeup and slider.

Doyle appears to be on the fast track to the majors, starting his first full professional season in Double-A Springfield. Doyle has made only three starts and thrown a total of 7.2 innings so far this year. He's struck out nine batters already, including four in his most recent start. However, Doyle has a 9.39 ERA. Most of that is being harmed by a couple of rough outings early in the year. He allowed only one run in four innings in his last start on Sunday.

Doyle will likely make another 3 starts before JJ graduates, and his spot at the second position on MLB Pipeline gives him an upper hand. However, his numbers don't stack up against the next prospect's 2026 output.

C Rainiel Rodriguez

MLB Pipeline rank: #3

Rainiel Rodriguez is deserving of being crowned the Cardinals' top prospect once JJ Wetherholt graduates. He finished 2025 with a 162 wRC+ and 20 home runs in only 84 games. He's somehow done even better this year in High-A.

Through 13 games, Rainiel Rodriguez has a .360/.484/.640 slash line with two home runs, two stolen bases, and 10 RBIs for a 192 wRC+. He's absolutely crushing High-A pitching and walking (16.1%) more than he's striking out (11.3%).

Assuming Rainiel doesn't fall off a cliff over these next few days, Rodriguez will leapfrog Liam Doyle and be the next Cardinals' top prospect.

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