JJ Wetherholt: The Cardinals’ Third Baseman of the Future?
The Cardinal Chronicle
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
JJ Wetherholt: The Cardinals’ Third Baseman of the Future?
Baseball conversations often treat positions as permanent labels.
Shortstop. Second baseman. Third baseman.
Once a player is drafted or introduced at a certain position, fans often assume he will remain there forever. But player development does not work that way—perhaps it never did.
That is why the idea of JJ Wetherholt eventually becoming the St. Louis Cardinals’ third baseman of the future should not be dismissed as some wild theory. In fact, there is a strong case that the Cardinals have already been preparing for exactly that possibility.
Wetherholt was drafted and developed primarily as a middle infielder. He has the athleticism, hands, baseball IQ, and offensive profile to fit at second base or shortstop. But the Cardinals have not treated him as a one-position player. They view him as a cornerstone piece—worth moving around until the roster puzzle fits.
The Cardinals’ development staff began laying that groundwork in the minors. Minor league coordinator Larry Day, former Double-A manager Patrick Anderson and infield coach Danny Black have all contributed to expanding Wetherholt’s defensive versatility. The goal was not to move him because he could not handle the middle infield, but to build him into a more complete infielder.
That distinction matters.
This was not a random emergency experiment or a "grab a glove and stand over there" situation. This was planned development. The Cardinals saw a player with a bat to impact a major-league lineup and the defensive tools to handle multiple infield assignments, and they acted accordingly.
Before the 2024 draft, evaluators already saw Wetherholt as more than a bat-first second baseman. Scouts noted his athleticism, instincts and arm strength, giving him a chance to move around the infield. While his clearest early fit appeared to be second base, some believed he had the tools to handle shortstop or third base, depending on his development.
That kind of arm strength changes the conversation. It is one thing to say a player can move around the infield in theory. It is another thing when the arm gives him a legitimate physical path to the left side of the diamond.
Third base isn’t just second base with a longer throw. It’s a different position entirely: Reaction times are shorter, angles are sharper, and the ball gets on you quicker. Footwork, first-step reads, arm strength and confidence all matter.
But Wetherholt checks enough of those boxes to make the idea more than just idle speculation.
The Cardinals also have to think beyond the current lineup. Masyn Winn is entrenched at shortstop. The organization has several young infield candidates vying for long-term roles, but third base remains one of the club’s bigger questions moving forward.
That is where Wetherholt becomes interesting.
If his bat is one the Cardinals want in the lineup every day — and it certainly appears to be — then the question becomes where the club gets the most value from him. If shortstop is locked down, second base has multiple candidates, and third base remains unsettled, the answer starts to reveal itself.
There is also a roster-building angle here. A left-handed hitter with on-base ability, athleticism and defensive versatility is valuable anywhere. A left-handed hitter with that profile who can become a steady third baseman is even more valuable.
That is not just filling a position. That is solving a problem.
Wetherholt’s offensive résumé has always been the carrying tool. He has hit at every stop, showing the kind of approach, bat-to-ball skill and plate discipline that separates real prospects from dreamers. The Cardinals are not simply looking at him as a useful piece. They are looking at him as one of the central pieces of their next core.
And when a player with that kind of bat shows enough defensive ability to handle several infield spots, smart organizations do not narrow his future too quickly. They expand it.
That is why the “Wetherholt at third base” conversation should be framed properly. It is not an indictment of his ability to play shortstop. It is not a knock on his value at second base. It is an acknowledgment that the Cardinals may have a player who is good enough, smart enough, and athletic enough to become the answer wherever the long-term need is greatest.
Right now, that need could very well be third base.
The Cardinals are building around a younger, more athletic core, and Wetherholt is already part of it. The only real question is whether his long-term fit is at the position most attached to his draft profile—or the one that best completes the Cardinals’ future roster.
Baseball has a way of sorting these things out over time. Injuries happen. Players emerge. Others stall. Rosters shift. But the Cardinals did not give Wetherholt third-base reps by accident. They did it because they could see the same possibility others are beginning to discuss now.
JJ Wetherholt as the Cardinals’ third baseman of the future?
That’s not crazy.
It might be the plan hiding in plain sight.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with the Gateway Sports
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.
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Photo Credit: JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Carinals | Forbes