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HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 19: Masyn Winn #0 and JJ Wetherholt #26 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate after defeating the Houston Astros in the game at Daikin Park on April 19, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)

St. Louis Cardinals’ star rookie, JJ Wetherholt, has been on fire in 2026. The left-handed-hitting leadoff specialist has already posted 2.5 Baseball Reference WAR and an OPS+ of 115. 

He’s playing so well that people are starting to compare him to a division rival’s top prospect. 

Wetherholt is Outperforming Pirates’ Konnor Griffin

Although Griffin was called up later and therefore has a smaller sample size, Wetherholt has played significantly better. 

Griffin has a lower WAR, batting average, on-base percentage, fielding metrics, and WRC+. By just about any measurement, it’s Wetherholt’s world. 

Peter Appel, a co-founder of Just Baseball Media, spoke on how Wetherholt has clearly had the better start to his career. 

“Griffin has the most upside, but Wetherholt right now, as we stand here today, is a better baseball player,” said Appel. “He’s putting up consistently better ABs, phenomenal defender, he’s a good base runner as well. I know Griffin has all of these tools, and he flashes better tools than Wetherholt. I think, at their current form, JJ Wetherholt is simply a better baseball player. Now he’s only hitting .234, and you’re like, ‘ehhhhh,’ but he’s gotten a little bit unlucky based on his quality of contact. And again, he’s kind of a copy and paste of [Kevin] McGonigle. Putting up excellent Abs day in and day out.” 

He continued, “But as a rookie, you’re gonna go through some highs and lows. Currently, JJ Wetherholt is in a relative low. But here’s what a relative low looks like over an entire season. Wetherholt has played 53 games; he’s got nine homers, six steals, and he’s struck out less than 20% of the time with an 11% walk rate, with a 117 WRC+, and his xwOBA is about .20 points higher than his wOBA.”

With the Pirates signing Wetherholt to a long-term deal before he even broke camp, it raises the question: where are the Cardinals at in retaining Wetherholt? 

The Cardinals Need to Extend Their Leadoff Man

The Cardinals have reportedly not made any significant progress in extending their star-studded youth. 

In an article for MLB.com, Will Leitch wrote: But an extension is nevertheless not so simple. The main issue with Wetherholt is that he’ll turn 24 in September, which, obviously, is not old, but for a rookie, it kind of is. The Cardinals have Wetherholt under team control through the 2031 season, when he will turn 29 right before the postseason on Sept. 10, which means if they extended him, they’d be buying the first few years of his 30s — always a risk for a middle infielder.” 

Outside of the obvious risk of signing a middle infielder long-term, other factors could be giving the team pause. 

Shortstop Masyn Winn’s rapid decline offensively has no doubt made St. Louis nervous about his future. Initially, he looked like a sure building block. Although he still plays a Gold Glove shortstop, his lackluster performance with the stick makes it hard to justify an extension. 

The Cardinals may stay away from a Wetherholt extension for now, though he’s surely earned the right for it to become a conversation. 

The last time the Cardinals had a prospect this hyped up was Jordan Walker. The last time they had an impact right away? Albert Pujols. St. Louis baseball is in a great spot while Wetherholt commands the reins to the lineup.