With starting job his ultimate goal, Cards top prospect gets tutelage from a legend

JUPITER, Fla. -- Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith was at Cardinals camp on Monday. Yadier Molina was, too. Adam Wainwright will be at the team's spring home soon as well.

Those franchise icons want to impart their wealth of knowledge onto the players who will be leading this new era of Cardinals baseball.

"We've got talent," said Molina, who was hired as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom in January. "Obviously, we've got young guys. ... But what I see is talent."

Those three luminaries were all the face of the franchise at one point or another. The current edition decidedly lacks such a presence. Offseason addition Ryne Stanek and fellow reliever Riley O'Brien are the only players on the 40-man roster who are older than 30. Outfielder Lars Nootbaar, with five seasons of Major League experience, is the longest-tenured Cardinal.

One player who could be St. Louis' next superstar hasn't reached the Majors yet. But that will likely change in a matter of weeks if all goes according to plan.

JJ Wetherholt, baseball's No. 5 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has elite skills and equally impressive makeup. He is among the best pure hitters in the Minors, with a .304/.418/.487 slash line through 138 career games. He was the Cardinals' Minor League Player of the Year in 2025 after tearing up Double-A and Triple-A. He is "very close" to reaching the bigs, according to manager Oliver Marmol. And learning from a 13-time Gold Glove shortstop during the team's first full-squad workout of the year on Monday could have only helped.

"Definitely excited to grow a relationship with him," Wetherholt said of Smith. "Just see him here more and more, and just take whatever you can get from that guy. I mean, he's a genius."

Wetherholt is getting reps at second base and third base in camp, but he's primarily at the keystone position. St. Louis' trade of Brendan Donovan presents a golden opportunity for the incoming rookie to be the Cards' starting second baseman on Opening Day. It's an opportunity he's ready to seize in his second year at big league camp.

"In camp one, you're literally just trying to coexist almost," he said. "Just really no expectations besides trying to learn. Just get my work [in] and just keep quiet. I'll still be doing that, but with the focus of trying to go out and compete a little bit more just with the opportunity that I have."

Marmol has noticed Wetherholt being more talkative and open during this Spring Training compared to his first go-around in '25. The lefty hitter will look to lead by example, and the club hopes his influence rubs off on the rest of the roster.

"Obviously, he hasn't been tested at the highest level with this, but when you look at how people gravitate to him, it is something that is very authentic. It's very natural," Bloom said of Wetherholt. "He has a lot of poise, he has a lot of energy, a lot of drive, and it's not something that feels manufactured or fake. And that's really impressive."

Outfielder Jordan Walker said seeing how relaxed Wetherholt is with his swing during batting practice is something he's tried to use to improve his own game. And when asked what Wetherholt's ceiling is as a player, Walker responded: "I don't think he has one, in all honesty."

The No. 7 pick in the 2024 Draft, Wetherholt has sky-high expectations entering 2026. He's aware of them, but he's trying to stay focused on the task at hand. That means doing whatever to make himself better and put himself in position to break camp with the Cardinals for the first time.

If he meets or exceeds those expectations, perhaps 20-plus years from now, St. Louis fans will mention Wetherholt in the same breath as The Wizard and Yadi.

"It would be pretty remarkable to ever be in comparison with those guys," he said. "I think them being here today, just hearing them get announced, there was a thought of, yeah, you always want the privilege of teams that you played for to be in a position to get invited back when you're done playing.

"Those guys are in a league of their own, so just continue to work and see what happens."