Cardinals' rookie phenom receives high praise from national baseball media analyst

The St. Louis Cardinals were supposed to be going through a rebuild this season, but it looks like the rest of the league forgot to tell Chaim Bloom and Oliver Marmol about that. Even with subtracting some veteran leadership this offseason, the Cardinals have outperformed expectations and have been led by a rookie at the top of the order. JJ Wetherholt, just 31 games into his big league career, has already received plenty of praise, but can now add national media shoutouts his way. The most recent comes from MLB Network host Mike Ferrin, who called Wetherholt a perennial all-star.

JJ Wetherholt is becoming the face of the next great Cardinals team

At the beginning of this so-called rebuild, a question that was on everyone's mind was wondering which current players would still be on the roster when the Cardinals are ready to compete. The expected competitive window was looking to be 2028, assuming a work stoppage of some sort next year, meaning that St. Louis would be at least two years away from relevance. Two years in baseball could be the difference of players in their prime years or their decline, so it is a fair question to wonder who could stick around the roster when the team is ready to compete again. With a young starting lineup, though, that conversation turned from trade pieces to extensions, especially as Wetherholt continues to stand out.

So far, Wetherholt has had a storybook season. He homered in his major league debut, recorded a walk-off hit the day after, has made a handful of stellar defensive plays, and even homered off of Cy Young winner Paul Skenes to lead the team to a four-game sweep of their division rivals. What he has done in 2026 is that of an established veteran, not a 23-year-old kid. Those of us who have been locked into Wetherholt since he was selected with the seventh overall pick, his performance this year is not much of a surprise. He was always viewed as an above-average bat and a solid runner with a high baseball IQ, but he has become much more than that as he has turned into an elite defender at second base.

All of that has the makings of not just a Rookie of the Year, but as Ferrin put it, a perennial all-star. Through the season's first month, Wetherholt has measured as 43% better than league average with the bat, and is currently third amongst rookies with seven homers. Even more impressive, he has put up this type of production from the leadoff spot, finding ways to give the other team fits with his knack of finding his way on base. Currently, Wetherholt's .865 OPS is second on the team to Jordan Walker, but it is hard to argue about the rookie's consistency in his first month in the big leagues. Every time Wetherholt grabs a bat, the expectation is that he will at least end up on first base when he is done, or at least work the opposing pitcher to a deep count.

While the league has been enamored with the performance of other rookies like Konnor Griffin and Sal Stewart, Wetherholt has been stellar without the flash (or extension) to go along with it. So far, he is the exact player we anticipated to be manning the St. Louis infield for years to come.

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