St. Louis Cardinals Top 50 Prospects 2026

Welcome to our team prospect rankings. Over the next three months, I will be pumping out team top 30 prospect rankings and evaluations for dynasty baseball. These reports are generated from live looks, film study, and advanced data analysis to bring you in-depth fantasy scouting reports on every player you need to know, with today’s being the St. Louis Cardinals’ Top Prospects for 2026.

Including 50 players in the ranks should help all you deep-league dynasty folks out there, and the reports on the top 30 give you insight into everyone you need to know!

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St. Louis Cardinals Top Prospects for Dynasty

Links to Reports

• St. Louis Cardinals Top Prospects for 2026

  • 1. JJ Wetherholt, MI, 23, 5’9”/190, AAA

  • 2. Rainiel Rodriguez, C, 19, 5’10”/197, A+

  • 3. Liam Doyle, LHP, 21, 6’2”/220, AA

  • 4. Joshua Baez, OF, 22, 6’3”/220, AA

  • 5. Jurrangelo Cijntje, BHP, 22, 5’11”/200, AA

  • 6. Quinn Mathews, LHP, 25, 6’5”/188, AAA

  • 7. Jimmy Crooks, C, 24, 6’0”/230, MLB

  • 8. Brandon Clarke, LHP, 22, 6’4”/220, A+

  • 9. Leonardo Bernal, C, 22, 6’0”/245, AA

  • 10. Tanner Franklin, RHP, 21, 6’5”/225, A+

  • 11. Yairo Padilla, SS, 18, 6’0”/170, CPX

  • 12. Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP, 19, 6’3”/181, A

  • 13. Tink Hence, RHP, 23, 6’1”/195, AA

  • 14. Tai Peete, OF, 20, 6’2”/193, A+

  • 15. Ixan Henderson, LHP, 24, 6’2”/200, AA

  • 16. Ryan Mitchell, SS/OF, 19, 6’2”/185, HS

  • 17. Emanuel Luna, OF, 16, 6’2”/204, NA

  • 18. Tekoah Roby, RHP, 24, 6’1”/210, AAA

  • 19. Nathan Church, OF, 25, 5’10”/190, MLB

  • 20. Sebastian Dos Santos, MI, 18, 6’0”/140, DSL

  • 21. Jesus Baez, 3B/SS, 21, 5’10”/180, A+

  • 22. Deniel Ortiz, CI, 21, 6’1”/230, A+

  • 23. Nate Dohm, RHP, 23, 6’4”/210, A+

  • 24. Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, 25, 6’3”/200, AA

  • 25. Cade Crossland, LHP, 22, 6’2”/210, NCAA

  • 26. Braden Davis, LHP, 22, 5’11”/180, A+

  • 27. Brycen Mautz, LHP, 24, 6’3”/190, AA

  • 28. Chen-Wei Lin, RHP, 24, 6’7”/188, AA

  • 29. Hancel Rincon, RHP, 23, 6’2”/160, AA

  • 30. Blaze Jordan, 1B, 23, 6’1”/220, AAA

  • Spreadsheet Link to the Top 50!

Format: Name, Position, 2026 OD Age, Height/Weight, Highest Level

St. Louis Cardinals Top Prospects for 2026

1. JJ Wetherholt, MI, 23, 5’9”/190, AAA

Drafted seventh overall during the 2024 MLB Draft, Wetherholt has developed into everything the Cardinals hoped he would. A solid debut in Single-A during his draft season saw the Cardinals skip him to Double-A to start 2025, and Wetherholt split the season between there and Triple-A.

Across 496 plate appearances at both levels, Wetherholt hit 17 home runs and stole 23 bases, but had 47 extra-base hits. He slashed .306/.421/.510 with just one more strikeout than walk for the season.

Wetherholt saw the power tick up all season and hit the cover off the ball in Triple-A. With an average exit velocity near 91 mph and has raised his 90th percentile exit velocity on the season up to near 105 mph. While Wetherholt does not post super high-end exit velocities, he consistently squares up baseballs and creates plenty of barrels.

When you talk about consistency, Wetherholt is who comes to mind. Wetherholt reached base in 96 of his 109 games played last year. The feel for the barrel is fantastic, and his approach is so sound. Wetherholt ran an 80 percent overall contact rate, with an in-zone contact rate of around 85 percent. He does not expand the zone, shown by the absurd number of walks he took, and the chase rate was quite low at 16 percent.

Expect Wetherholt to make the Opening Day roster for the Cardinals and make a run at NL Rookie of the Year.

FFG: Well-Round, Super Consistent Fantasy Asset

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .300/.400/25 HR/20 SB

Variance: Low

Buy/Sell: Buy

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