Cardinals handling of JJ Wetherholt injury highlights frustrating disconnect

The St. Louis Cardinals deserve a ton of praise for the work they've done revamping the organization under Chaim Bloom, specifically when it comes to player development and performance, as well as all of the young talent they've added. Unfortunately, they've decided to continue a frustrating trend from the John Mozeliak era that doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to it.

For all of the talk that the Cardinals give regarding their desire to keep pitchers healthy over the course of a 162-game season, they sure seem to keep shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to how they handle injuries with position players - and now it seems to have cost JJ Wetherholt the National League Rookie of the Year award as well as the organization an extremely valuable draft pick.

Wetherholt was recently placed on the injured list due to right wrist inflammation, an issue that the Cardinals stated he's been dealing with for over a month now. So, for approximately the last six weeks, Wetherholt has pushed through this wrist pain, and manager Oliver Marmol stated on KMOX that he believes that is why his production has fallen off as of late.

So...why on earth was he still playing?

Let's do some math here. Six weeks from the last game Wetherholt played was July 19th, just a few days after the All-Star Break ended. So, for round-number's sake, let's just compare Wetherholt's production before and after the All-Star Break.

Pre-All-Star Break (89 G): .259/.356/.399 (.755 OPS), 13 HR, 23 XBH, 114 wRC+, 3.6 fWAR (10th in MLB)
Post-All-Star Break (40 G): .201/.313/.305 (.618 OPS), 4 HR, 8 XBH, 80 wRC+, 0.8 fWAR (70th in MLB)

The Cardinals knew he was dealing with this wrist pain. Sure, they didn't know the full extent of it, but when Wetherholt's production fell off as much as it did...how are they not shutting him down to get him healthy and protect his chances at winning Rookie of the Year in a rebuild year? Yes, Wetherholt wanted to play, but the Cardinals have to protect players from themselves, and they missed the mark here again.

This has become a trend among Cardinals position players in recent years.

Cardinals have a history of pushing position players too far with injuries

The first example that came to mind for me is one of the most recent - Brendan Donovan last year. If you remember, Donovan started the year red-hot for the Cardinals, the clear front-runner to start at second base for the National League in the All-Star Game and well on his way to a career year. But then, his production tapered off in a significant way, and it was later reported that he had been dealing with turf toe that had hindered his production and eventually led to a groin injury that placed him on the injured list.

That turf toe injury reportedly happened around June 10th of last season. Before the injury, Donovan had a .819 OPS and 132 wRC+ in 64 games. After the injury, Donovan stayed on the field, and his numbers dropped to a .653 OPS and 84 wRC+ over that 46-game stretch prior to his groin acting up. I get it, Donovan was an important part of the team, as it Wetherholt, but allowing these players to see their production drop off that much is just mind-boggling to me.

And to make matters worse, that groin issue has persisted for Donovan into the 2026 season, as he was placed on the injured list with it again this year. If Donovan were still a Cardinal, they would be missing even more time from their prized player because they decided to allow him to push through his injury and hurt himself further.

I'm all for players trying to grit through things and get on the field, but context matters. Both Donovan and Wetherholt were allowed to see their production slip for over 40 games, rather than taking the time off that could have helped them get back to their normal selves. The Cardinals need their top players playing as close to 100% as possible, not accepting half the production because they are gritting through issues. The Cardinals (and the player) need to recognize these drop-offs much sooner and take swift action.

The second piece of context here is especially true for where the Cardinals are in their life cycle. They didn't call last season a rebuild, but it sure wasn't a contention window either. The Cardinals likely knew that Donovan was a prime trade candidate that offseason...so why on earth would they allow his production to drop off that much and hurt his potential trade value? And this year is very clearly a rebuild season, so why would they allow their prized asset in Wetherholt, who they just extended and who was the runaway favorite for Rookie of the Year, to throw that award away and potentially do further damage to himself long-term? I do not get it.

Lars Nootbaar said back in spring training that he had been playing through his heel issues for years, and that they had been so bad that he couldn't even walk up stairs without pain at times. Nolan Arenado pushed through back issues that severely hampered his production. Dylan Carlson was allowed to play through his own wrist issues. This looks like a trend to me, and one that is only hurting the organization.

And before I get off my soapbox, it's especially frustrating to see this trend when the Cardinals have been so open about how they want to be careful with their arms and do everything they can to keep them healthy long-term. At times, this has led to the organization seemingly being too cautious with some of their arms. It's so odd to me that they would be so conservative with their pitchers, sometimes to the point of overdoing it when it comes to prospects, and yet seem to be a bit reckless with their approach to their position players.

I have a lot of respect for what the Cardinals leadership has been able to pull off over the last two years, so I'm not quick to question their processes. Sure, I don't always agree with the choices or results, but they are really good at this. But when it comes to these position player injuries, I continue to be baffled by what is going on here.

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