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St. Louis Cardinals JJ Wetherholt Denied NL Rookie of the Year Award

By Doc Holliday Nov 9, 2026 | 7:59 PM
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – JULY 22: JJ Wetherholt #26 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on July 22, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The results are in for Rookie of the Year from Major League Baseball and Sal Stewart of the Cincinnati Reds was announced as the winner. The other finalist along with JJ Wetherholt of the Cardinals was Carson Benge of the New York Mets.

JJ was hoping to be the first St. Louis Cardinals Rookie of the Year since Albert Pujols won the award in 2001.

Here are JJ’s numbers for the 2026 season:

Games Played – 139
Plate Appearances – 619
At Bats – 537
Runs – 89
Hits – 130
Doubles – 15
Triples – 0
Home Runs – 17
Runs Batted In (RBI) – 51
Walks – 64
Strikeouts – 104
Stolen Bases / Caught Stealing – 14 / 1
Batting Average (AVG) – .242
On-Base Percentage (OBP) – .339
Slugging Percentage (SLG) – .365
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS) – .704

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