MLB Got It Seriously Wrong With Cardinals-JJ Wetherholt All-Star Snub

When the 2026 Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played on July 14, the St. Louis Cardinals will be represented by outfielder Jordan Walker.

The 24-year-old absolutely is deserving and arguably should be a starter. He has played in 84 games and is slashing .291/.350/.520 with an .870 OPS, 19 homers and a league-leading 63 RBIs in 84 games played

As of right now, Walker is the only representative from the Cardinals heading over to the All-Star game, but that arguably shouldn’t be the case. Rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt should be there as well. Wetherholt has played in 82 games and is slashing .266/.363/.415 with a .778 OPS, 13 homers, 36 RBIs, nine stolen bases, and nine doubles. He also sits alone atop Major League Baseball with 18 outs above average. Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals is in second place with 17. He has been incredible and is already at 4.2 wins above replacement, which is tied for eighth-best in baseball with Jacob Misiorowski and Yordan Alvarez. Misiorowski should be the favorite for the National League Cy Young Award right now. Alvarez should be the favorite for the American League MVP Award. Plus, both are All-Stars. Wetherholt is not.

JJ Wetherholt Should Be An All-Star

Ozzie Albies of the Atlanta Braves was named as the starting second baseman for the National League with Luis Arraez off the bench.

Both Albies and Arraez have had very solid seasons so far, but neither has been as good overall as Wetherholt has. On top of being potentially the best overall defensive player in the league this season, Wetherholt has produced offensively as well. His overall offensive numbers are very similar to Albies’. When it comes to Arraez, Wetherholt is behind in batting average, but ahead of most other major categories.

The Cardinals also have been one of the biggest feel-good stories in baseball this season, in large part because of Wetherholt’s performance. The Cardinals have outperformed expectations and having a 4.2-WAR player in the mix at second base certainly is a big reason why.

Every year, there are snubs when it comes to the All-Star Game. It’s an imperfect process, that also includes fan-voting. On one hand, that’s important because theoretically the fans see the players they want to see. But it also gets things wrong. Wetherholt has had a better overall season than the starting second baseman in the All-Star Game for the National League, that’s a snub, to say the least.

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