JJ Wetherholt is predicted to wear iconic St. Louis Cardinals number when he debuts

The St. Louis Cardinals officially moved towards the future with a couple of prospect promotions on Friday, but fans are still left waiting for the debut of top prospect JJ Wetherholt. Despite his scorching season in the minors, St. Louis will likely have to wait until next season to see Wetherholt at Busch Stadium. Even without seeing the Cardinals' top prospect this year, it appears that fans who cannot wait any longer to see what Wetherholt's name would look like gracing the best uniform in baseball can safely customize a jersey of their own.

JJ Wetherholt's future number holds plenty of meaning for him and the organization.

After Jimmy Crooks III took number eight upon his promotion, the last catcher to do so since Joe Girardi, Jeff Jones responded by saying that this means fans could safely order a jersey with number seven on it for Wetherholt. It would be a fun homage to the fact that Wetherholt was selected seventh overall in the 2024 draft, while also having more connections to the organization's history.

I am not sure how the Cardinals usually go about giving numbers to young players, if those jerseys are assigned or if some players get to choose from a certain list of available digits. However, if Wetherholt were to wear the lucky number seven on the back of his jersey, it would hold some meaning to the organization and the expectations for their top prospect. The player who most recently had success while wearing number seven is Matt Holliday, who switched to the single-digit number after wearing number 15 when he was acquired from the Athletics. Holliday received MVP votes in four of his six and a half years with St. Louis while also being named to four All-Star teams. The number went on a one-year hiatus after Holliday left, and Luke Weaver wore it for a short stint before Andrew Knizner staked claim to seven until 2023.

Prior to Holliday, the biggest name to have the number was J.D. Drew, who came to the Cardinals with plenty of excitement similar to that surrounding Wetherholt. Drew was a first-round pick for St. Louis in the 1998 draft, a year after he did not sign with the Phillies despite going second overall. After 45 games in the minor leagues, the Cardinals called Drew up to the major league roster, and he immediately sparked excitement thanks to a .417 batting average and five homers in just 14 games at the big-league level. While he had a solid career, injuries limited his performance with the Cardinals to six seasons. The organization decided to sell on the former top prospect and included him in a trade to the Braves that included a pitcher named Adam Wainwright coming back to St. Louis. Drew would put up an MVP-caliber year with Atlanta in 2008, but failed to reach his overall potential before calling it a career after 14 seasons.

Of course, Wetherholt is currently wearing number 27 with Memphis, the same number he wore while in college at West Virginia. That number is currently being worn by Nathan Church, but it was also worn by Hall of Famer Scott Rolen. If Wetherholt gets to pick his own number, it would be interesting to see if Church gives up 27 or if Wetherholt makes seven a number that Cardinals fans hope to see gracing Busch Stadium for years to come.