St. Louis Cardinals rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt has been unimaginable to start out his rookie marketing campaign. Wetherholt is the present frontrunner to take residence the 2026 National League Rookie of the Year Award and he has been on of the most effective second basemen in the game.
On the season, the 23-year-old has a slash line of .270/.373/.431, good for a .804 on-base proportion with 12 residence runs, 34 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 71 video games performed.
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He has been on a heavy heater of the previous seven video games, one that’s seeing him hit to a .429 batting common with a 1.286 OPS and three residence runs.
The rookie made some spectacular Cardinals historical past throughout his latest recreation in opposition to the Kansas City Royals.
Wetherholt led off the sport by crushing a ball deep into proper middle discipline for his eleventh residence runs of the season.
After the Cardinals scored 5 runs in the primary inning, Wetherholt got here up in the second and crushed one other ball over the wall, this time 360 toes to left discipline.
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The rookie hit residence runs in back-to-back innings.
According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, “This is the twelfth time in Cardinals historical past a participant has had 2 residence runs by way of the primary two innings of a recreation. First since 6/14/22 Paul Goldschmidt. Second STL rookie, becoming a member of 9/15/06 Chris Duncan”
Wetherholt completed this feat for the Cardinals for the primary time in 4 seasons, and the primary time for a rookie in 20!
St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26)
The Cardinals have had a tremendous bounce again season following a pair years of disappointment and lacking out on October. And the staff is being lead by a 23-year-old.
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Their pitching has lead the staff again a bit bit all through the season. The unit holds a 4.28 ERA which ranks because the seventeenth greatest in baseball. However, they’ve been capable of counteract this with their nice offensive manufacturing. The staff holds a .731 staff OPS, which ranks as tenth in the league.
St. Louis at present sits in second place of the National League Central division with a 40-34 report on the season.
After lacking the postseason for the previous three seasons, they at present maintain the highest National League Wild Card spot and have a +1.5 recreation lead.
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With Wetherholt exhibiting now indicators of slowing down, the league wants to arrange themselves for the pressure they may possible be coping with for years to return.
This story was initially revealed by Athlon Sports on Jun 21, 2026, the place it first appeared in the MLB part. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.