St. Louis Cardinals rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt has been incredible to start his rookie campaign. Wetherholt is the current frontrunner to take home the 2026 National League Rookie of the Year Award and he has been on of the best second basemen in the sport.
On the season, the 23-year-old has a slash line of .270/.373/.431, good for a .804 on-base percentage with 12 home runs, 34 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 71 games played.
He has been on a heavy heater of the past seven games, one that is seeing him hit to a .429 batting average with a 1.286 OPS and three home runs.
The rookie made some impressive Cardinals history during his recent game against the Kansas City Royals.
Wetherholt led off the game by crushing a ball deep into right center field for his 11th home runs of the season.
After the Cardinals scored five runs in the first inning, Wetherholt came up in the second and crushed another ball over the wall, this time 360 feet to left field.
The rookie hit home runs in back-to-back innings.
According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, “This is the 12th time in Cardinals history a player has had 2 home runs through the first two innings of a game. First since 6/14/22 Paul Goldschmidt. Second STL rookie, joining 9/15/06 Chris Duncan”
JJ Wetherholt!
This is the 12th time in Cardinals history a player has had 2 home runs through the first two innings of a game
First since 6/14/22 Paul Goldschmidt
Second STL rookie, joining 9/15/06 Chris Duncan https://t.co/VbKq0NxEWX— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 21, 2026
Wetherholt accomplished this feat for the Cardinals for the first time in four seasons, and the first time for a rookie in 20!
The Cardinals have had an amazing bounce back season following a couple years of disappointment and missing out on October. And the team is being lead by a 23-year-old.
Their pitching has lead the team back a little bit throughout the season. The unit holds a 4.28 ERA which ranks as the 17th best in baseball. However, they have been able to counteract this with their great offensive production. The team holds a .731 team OPS, which ranks as 10th in the league.
St. Louis currently sits in second place of the National League Central division with a 40-34 record on the season.
After missing the postseason for the past three seasons, they currently hold the top National League Wild Card spot and have a +1.5 game lead.
With Wetherholt showing now signs of slowing down, the league needs to prepare themselves for the force they will likely be dealing with for years to come.