Rival executives predict a huge year for crucial members of Cardinals core

The St. Louis Cardinals are letting their young core take the stage in 2026 under the new leadership of Chaim Bloom, with top prospect JJ Wetherholt taking on the role as the leading man of this youth movement.

After being selected seventh overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, Wetherholt has excelled throughout the minor league levels and is expected to be in the Cardinals' Opening Day lineup this year to make his MLB debut. Seen as a top-five prospect in all of baseball, Wetherholt has plenty of fanfare from talent evaluators, but now rival front office executives are adding even more fuel to that fire. In a poll of 40 front office officials done by MLB Pipeline, Wetherholt was voted the favorite to win the NL Rookie of the Year in 2026.

JJ Wetherholt seen as the early favorite for NL Rookie of the Year by rival baseball executives

Receiving 30.2% of the vote, Wetherholt was the number one candidate to win Rookie of the Year, narrowly eclipsing New York Mets right-handed pitcher Nolan McLean, who looked phenomenal in his cup of coffee with New York at the end of the 2025 season. This comes on the heels of MLB.com recently predicting Wetherholt to win NL Rookie of the Year as well.

Prior to the 2024 MLB Draft, Wetherholt was seen as the favorite to be the first overall pick, but a hamstring injury caused him to fall in the draft, and the Cardinals were able to nab his incredible talent all the way down at the seventh pick. In 2025, Wetherholt slashed .306/.421/.510 with 17 home runs and 59 RBI in 109 games between Double-A and Triple-A, with his 154 wRC+ being one of the best in all of minor league baseball.

Wetherholt will likely man second base or third base for the Cardinals in 2026, and is expected to hit the ground running as an impact player. Now, it's not fair to expect him to be awesome out of the gate, but I do think it's fair that people believe he can and will do so. Wetherholt is an advanced hitter with incredible feel for the strike zone, and he showed in 2025 that he can maintain that approach at the plate while making aggressive swing decisions on pitches he knows he can do damage with. If he is able to continue that trajectory as a Major Leaguer, we are talking about a middle-of-the-order or top-of-the-lineup bat with All-Star potential for a long time.