JJ Wetherholt broke an 18-game home run drought Sunday, going 2-for-5 with a solo homer, three RBIs, one run scored and a strikeout in the Cardinals’ 5-4 loss to the Twins.
Wetherholt’s production was the headline for St. Louis: his three RBIs made up the bulk of the Cardinals' offense in a one-run game, and his homer was the clear offensive highlight on a day the team fell short. The box score left no doubt on the player’s stat line — two hits in five at-bats, a run scored and three runs driven in — even as the scoreboard favored Minnesota.
Through 65 games this season, Wetherholt’s numbers have been the foundation of a strong rookie campaign: he was slashing.255/.359/.402 with 10 home runs, 31 RBIs and 45 runs scored, along with seven steals and a.341 wOBA. He also led all rookies in fWAR and in runs scored, markers that explain why his individual output draws attention even in defeat.
The homer mattered beyond the counting stats because it snapped a long drought — 18 games without a long ball for the rookie second baseman — and because it arrived in a close contest. Ending a power lull is a tangible turning point for a young player; the swing that produced the home run also served notice that the slugging component of his game can surface when needed.
That said, the clear tension in Sunday’s result is the disconnect between personal success and team outcome. Wetherholt drove in three of the Cardinals’ four runs, yet his big day could not be translated into a win. The performance deepens the question about how much one player’s hot stretch can influence the win column when the rest of the lineup or the pitching staff does not provide enough support.
Wetherholt’s season numbers suggest this was not an outlier: his counting stats and advanced marks point to consistent value, and the 10 homers through 65 games show he has already produced power intermittently. Still, the immediate unanswered questions remain concrete. The game log does not specify how many at-bats elapsed between homers or how many of his season homers came before the drought began, leaving a gap in measuring whether Sunday’s blast is a restart of regular power output or a solitary flash.
What comes next is straightforward and consequential: Wetherholt can add to the rookie lead he already owns in fWAR and runs scored only if he converts individual spurts into runs that change results. The clearer test is not whether he can end another slump, but whether the Cardinals will get the complementary production around him so that a 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs helps turn close losses into wins.
