ST. LOUIS -- Though nothing magical happened in his first Major League at-bat, Cardinals' No. 1 prospect JJ Wetherholt didn’t wait long to give the sea of red something to cheer about in his big-league debut on Thursday afternoon on Opening Day in St. Louis.
After blooping a pop fly to Rays center fielder Cedric Mullins to lead off the game for the Cardinals, Wetherholt launched a solo home run in his second plate appearance to lead off the bottom of the third, sending a Drew Rasmussen offering onto the grassy knoll of the batter’s eye in center field. The ball jumped off his bat at an exit velocity of 101.7 mph and traveled a Statcast-projected 425 feet. A Cardinal hasn't homered in his Major League debut on Opening Day in 69 years, since Bobby Smith did it against the Cincinnati Redlegs at Crosley Field on April 16, 1957.
Rasmussen got ahead in the count on the 23-year-old infielder by pounding him away, but on the 0-2 pitch, Wetherholt made the adjustment on an outside 94.5 mph four-seam fastball, connecting for his first big league hit and home run in one fell swoop. The swing gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Wetherholt drove in his second run with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right in the sixth inning, cutting the Cards' deficit to 7-6.
Wetherholt had forced his way onto the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster with an impressive Spring Training camp. When manager Oliver Marmol boiled it down in constructing his lineup for Thursday's opener, Wetherholt had done more than simply earn a spot -- he had earned the first one.
“I think it’s fun, man,” Marmol said before Thursday’s game. “Kid’s going to debut. We are in a new chapter of the overall story of the Cardinals. Pretty damn cool for him to be able to get in the box and lead off for us.”
Marmol penciled Wetherholt’s name atop St. Louis' batting order for the opener against the Rays at Busch Stadium.
Marmol said that Wetherholt becoming a realistic candidate to be the Cardinals’ leadoff hitter was a process that began coming into focus pretty early during camp.
“Just having an idea of what the options were,” Marmol explained. “You’re more so judging the personality of, if it goes well, if it doesn’t go well, how will he handle it? How will others handle it? What the options are. The pros and cons of all of it.”
Through this point in his professional career, Wetherholt’s plate profile embodies the qualities any manager would like to see at the top of a lineup card. He carried a .421 on-base percentage across Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis last season, striking out just 73 times in 496 plate appearances.
During Grapefruit League play this spring, Wetherholt kept it up, posting a .386 OBP in 44 plate appearances.
The decision to lead him off to open the 2026 campaign acknowledged Wetherholt’s skill set -- an on-base threat with strong plate discipline -- and weighed it against the reality of the pressures that accompany a big-league debut for any young player. But Marmol didn’t come by his choice flippantly.
“I don’t think you just do it with anybody just to be romantic about it,” Marmol said. “I think you have to really weigh whether they can handle it. And I think he can.”
President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom echoed the sentiment, equating his answer to questions about Wetherholt’s readiness for the Opening Day roster to how Marmol likely viewed the lineup decision.
“He never gave us any reason to think that he shouldn’t be there [on the Opening Day roster],” Bloom said. “And I think that’s true, too, about where he’s hitting in the lineup. So, it should be fun.”
Winn cleaning up
Another spot in the batting order drawing attention Thursday is Masyn Winn’s presence as the cleanup hitter. Marmol described Winn’s placement as a way to prioritize the club’s most productive hitter from a year ago, Iván Herrera, in the two-hole. That choice serves to break up the lefties, Wetherholt and Alec Burleson, who bats third. Herrera led the team with an .837 OPS in 2025.
Marmol likes the on-base acumen of Wetherholt and Herrera setting the table ahead of Burleson and Winn, a duo that puts the ball in play and avoids the punchout.
“Unconventional when you think of Masyn in the four [spot],” Marmol acknowledged. “But at the same time, those guys get on ahead of him, this is a guy that’s hard to double up on the ground, makes a lot of contact and has the ability to drive in some runs. So I like that part of it.
“We’ll take a look at it and see if there are adjustments to be made. But I like it.”