Odds are high that the Cardinals top prospect will be playing in St. Louis in 2026

The St. Louis Cardinals are finding ways to get excitement back into the ballpark and one of the quickest and easiest ways to get fans in the seats is to provide quality talent on the field. While they are not likely to be in on the big-name free agents, they have plenty of future lineup stalwarts waiting in the wings in the minor leagues.

JJ Wetherholt can be penciled into the Cardinals 2026 Opening Day lineup

In a recent Q&A done by MLB Pipeline on MLB.com, prospect expert Jonathon Mayo fielded the first question he received about top prospects around the league. After the stellar season that first-round pick JJ Wetherholt put up in the minors, it is only fair to wonder when we are going to see the top prospect playing meaningful games in St. Louis. Wetherholt was named the Texas League MVP in the same season in which he actually outperformed his Double-A performance after his promotion to Triple-A Memphis.

His showing in the minors should be plenty to garner attention for his MLB debut and it looks like the Cardinals have taken notice. As the team looks for their next move, it appears that whatever decision they make will be to clear up some spot on the field for Wetherholt. For now, it looks most likely that the spot will come from a trade of fan-favorite Brendan Dononvan. No matter where Donovan goes, that would be a seamless transition for Wetherholt to slot into the lineup at second base. A natural shortstop, Wetherholt saw plenty of time at three infield spots, but with Gold Glove winner Masyn Winn at short, his likely long-term fit is at the keystone.

Even with the question marks on the 40-man roster, Mayo felt confident putting a number on the odds that Wetherholt would debut. Answering the fan question, the prospect expert gave the Cardinal infielder the highest chance of making the bigs at the start of the year with an 80% shot at breaking camp with the team. There are more options for Wetherholt to make the team if Donovan does not get dealt, however, with Nolan Gorman, Nolan Arenado, and others being dangled on the trade market. Those trades would make slightly more difficult fits on the roster for Wetherholt but the team would likely move things around to make it happen.

In a true rebuild year and JJ Wetherholt not showing much else to prove at the minor leagues, it appears he is right at the doorstep of the bigs. Of course, it will be a bummer if/when his opportunity comes after a trade of Donnie, but for the current state of the team, I believe that order of transactions makes the most sense to me. Just because Wetherholt makes the team, though, does not mean we should expect MVP-caliber numbers from the West Virginia product, but I would rather see him figure out what is next for his game at the big league level as opposed to laying waste to minor league pitching again.