The next Cardinal Silver Slugger is primarily known for his glove

The Brewers are enjoying champagne on ice, the Rays and Guardians are fighting to the proverbial death for a chance to do the same, and all Cardinal fans can look forward to are MLB awards. 

Michael McGreevy, JJ Wetherholt, and Masyn Winn all earned nods as Gold Glove finalists at their respective positions. 

Jordan Walker is eyeing a few awards of his own, and the rest of the team awaits final decisions. 

Obviously, that makes it crystal ball time. 

Which Cardinal has the best chance at a 2027 Silver Slugger award?

First, nobody with a prior Silver Slugger will be included. My sincerest apologies to Alec Burleson. 

The Cardinals have a crop of talent unlike most. It’s circulating the MiLB drain, en route to a big-league ocean, and plenty of names should spark excitement. 

There’s Tai Peete, whose game is ablaze in the Arizona Fall League. Or Rainiel Rodriguez, who was hitting 450 ft home runs at an age when most of us couldn’t grow facial hair (19). 

But to suggest that a Silver Slugger is in any prospect's future feels like more of a half-court shot than a calculated risk. 

That’s why the next Cardinal Silver Slugger isn’t a prospect–it’s a big leaguer known for his glovework. 

Wetherholt, whose only rookie-year drawback came in the box, has silver outlining his swing's future. 

The first-year Cardinal came out of the gate hot, smacking a dead-center homer in his debut, and posting an .856 OPS through his first 31 games. 

Wetherholt’s consistency never completely bottomed out, as he’s an expert at drawing ball four. Unfortunately, he did lack home cooking. 

At Busch Stadium, the wonder-rookie teased fans with a dismal .617 OPS–likely the only reason he won’t walk away with a rookie of the year award. 

Wetherholt’s path to conquering the house he calls home is quite simple. All he has to do is try…less? 

It was a tad surprising seeing Wetherholt, a smaller-framed second baseman, smack 17 home runs. That power output is intriguing, but if it hurts his consistency, he may be better off dialing it back. 

In the wake of this new Cardinal horde, the Redbirds won’t need homers galore; they’ll have plenty in stock. When that day comes, Wetherholt’s strength will rely on his on-base ability, not on how many leadoff bombs he can hit. 

If the Cardinal frontman can start delivering the baseball the other way more effectively (not to say he wasn’t already good at that), he could have a nice leadoff future ahead. 

Wetherholt already doesn’t chase, barely whiffs, and makes quality contact. Now, imagine if long balls were the last thing on his mind. Second base isn’t an offensively prominent position, and if the franchise foundation can hit .300, score 100 runs, and steal 20 bases while still putting ten baseballs over the fence, he’ll be in a great spot come awards season. 

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