Cardinals’ top 10 moments of 2026, No. 4: JJ Wetherholt follows up debut with walk off

How does one follow up a home run on their Major League debut? With a walk-off, of course!

Checking in at number four on the Dealin' the Cards podcast's top 10 moments of the 2026 season for the St. Louis Cardinals, JJ Wetherholt one-upped himself in his second career game, smacking a groundball through the infield to walk off the Tampa Bay Rays and improve the Cardinals to 2-0 on the 2026 season.

JJ Wetherholt's walk-off hit made the 2026 Cardinals feel like the beginning of something special

Taking myself back to that moment, it was hard not to feel like something special was brewing with this Cardinals team.

Obviously not some World Series contender, but it felt like the Cardinals' young core was emerging as a fun, dynamic group that was capable of competing with good teams as they found their own footing in this game. The Cardinals took the first two games of the season from the Rays, a team that is now in the American League Championship Series at the time of writing this, and looked capable of going blow for blow with them.

Wetherholt walked up to the plate with such confidence. He chewed on his gum like he always does, and even told reporters following the game that he was humming his walk-up song as he took that at-bat. Just one game prior, Wehterholt scored the first run of the Cardinals season by blasting a solo home run to dead center for the first bomb of his MLB career.

It's really impressive to see a player like Wetherholt succeed with the kind of expectations that were placed on his shoulders. Considering how frustrating the years prior had been for Cardinals fans, it was tough to not put unrealistic expectations on Wetherholt. And yet, he took the mantle as the Cardinals' Opening Day second baseman and lead-off hitter in stride, and had himself an awesome rookie year.

Tied for 18th in all of baseball in fWAR (4.6) on the season, Wetherholt faded at the plate as he dealt with a wrist injury in the second half, but he showed for a good chunk of the year how impactful he can be at the plate. While people didn't think Wetherholt would be a bad defender by any means, the fact that he was one of the best in baseball already was a huge revelation, and it made for a dynamic double-play duo up the middle with Masyn Winn.

Wetherholt is the only member of the Cardinals organization currently locked into a long-term deal. He's a leader at such a young age, and while they are going to build around other players on the roster as well, it's clear that Wetherholt has already established himself as a "dude" moving forward.

The Cardinals are primed to take a major jump next year, and Wetherholt will be a big part of determining how much they can improve year over year. A strong sophomore campaign from Wetherholt could be the engine their offense needs to put up runs at a high level, and I truly believe we are only scratching the surface of what he's capable of at the plate.

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