JJ Wetherholt headshot

JJ Wetherholt News: 'Every opportunity' to make roster

Written by RotoWire Staff

Published on January 19, 2026

The Cardinals plan to give Wetherholt "every opportunity" to make the Opening Day roster, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Manager Oliver Marmol confirmed as much over the weekend at the team's Winter Warm-Up fan event, saying Wetherholt "definitely has a chance" to make the team. What position he might play is not yet locked down. The Cardinals opened up third base by trading Nolan Arenado, and Wetherholt is currently set to compete for playing time there with Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese. However, if St. Louis winds up trading Brendan Donovan, Wetherholt would then likely focus on winning the second-base job. The Cardinals' top prospect and one of the better hitting prospects in all of baseball, Wetherholt slashed .306/.421/.510 with 17 home runs, 23 stolen bases and a 72:73 BB:K over 109 games between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis in 2025.

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