Standout rookie JJ Wetherholt, who has been out since Aug. 30 with right wrist tendinitis, was activated off the Injured List on Wednesday, but he will be brought back slowly by the St. Louis Cardinals. Wetherholt will play six innings on Wednesday and won't play on back-to-back days initially.
Standout rookie JJ Wetherholt is back with the St. Louis Cardinals … but with something of a caveat attached to his return.
Because the Minor League regular seasons have wrapped up for the most part, Wetherholt was unable to go out on a rehab assignment and test out the right wrist tendinitis that knocked him out of action since Aug. 30.
Accordingly, the Cardinals plan on bringing the standout second baseman back slowly with him being limited to just six innings on Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants and then having the wrist reevaluated on Thursday’s off day, Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol said. If he plays nine innings on Friday, he almost assuredly be off on Saturday to give the wrist time to recover. If all goes well in the day ahead, he will be allowed to progress to where he is playing on back-to-back days again, the manager said.
“Right now, what we’re going to do is treat it as a mini rehab rather than sending him out (to the Minor Leagues) and he’ll play six innings (on Wednesday),” Marmol said before penciling Wetherholt in as his leadoff hitter for the series finale against the Giants. “Then, we’ll put somebody else in there regardless of the situation. We have (Thursday) off and then we can continue that progression of a full game and then back-to-backs and go from there. But it made sense because he’s dying to get back and I’m looking forward to seeing it.”
Doctors have told Wetherholt that there is no structural damage in his wrist, but it will likely take six weeks for him to feel pain free again. Managing the pain is now the goal until the end of the season.
“Pain-free, I don’t think was necessarily the goal because the nature of the injury,” Wetherholt said. “There’s going to be some monitoring, but it’s going to be about the workload and not overload the tendon because we’re progressively trying to heal as time goes on.”
The Cardinals designated Ramon Urias for assignment to make room on the 28-man roster for Wetherholt. Right-handed pitcher Peter Strzelecki was activated from the 15-day Injured List and designated for assignment.
Wetherholt, 23, was the Cardinals’ top Minor League prospect in 2024 and 2025 after being selected with the No. 7 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. He has blossomed into a franchise cornerstone in his first MLB season, slashing .242/.343/.370/.713 with 17 homers, 14 doubles, 48 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 15 tries in 130 games played. He said it was important for him to get back onto the field and play again this season.
“Just to hopefully end on a good note and be back with the guys,” Wetherholt said. “Obviously, you want to feel good going into the offseason so that I can prepare the best way that I can.”
Marmol said there was no thought of shutting Wetherholt down after the Cards fell out of the Wild Card race.
“He’s a baseball player and baseball players play baseball,” Marmol said matter-of-factly. “He’s done his work to get back to games, and it doesn’t matter about the standings or the amount of games left. He’s worked hard to get back and he feels ready, so he’s back.”
The native of Mars, Pa., has been one of the Cards’ most productive offensive players while also becoming one of the best second basemen in baseball. In 115 games at second base, he has made just two errors and has been a part of 72 doubles plays in 491 total chances. Also, he hasn’t made an error in 96 2/3 innings at shortstop.
Wetherholt’s 22 Outs Above Average are tied for second in MLB with Royals superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., trailing only the 26 of Cubs Most Valuable Player candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong. His 22 Outs Above Average are eight more than the next closest National League second baseman (Pittsburgh’s Brandon Lowe, 14).
The Cardinals showed their trust and belief in the future of the sure-handed middle infielder by rewarding him with an eight-year, $112.5 million contract that could be worth as much as $132 million with incentives. The contract includes no opt-out clauses for either side, meaning he will likely be wearing the birds on a bat across his chest for much of the next decade ahead.
Marmol said he knew after Spring Training that Wetherholt was going to be a solid defensive player, but he has been somewhat surprised just how well the rookie has handled the second base position as a rookie.
“He’s butting up against (what the club thought was his ceiling) way more often this year than I anticipated,” Marmol said. “I knew there would be flashes of what he’s capable of doing, but he’s done a really, really nice job of being consistent with his (defensive) play.”
