By Rob Rains
If it wasn’t for a hamstring injury that forced him to miss most of the first six weeks of West Virginia’s season, J.J. Wetherholt might have been the first overall pick in the MLB Draft on Sunday night.
That injury might have been a very lucky one for the Cardinals.
Wetherholt was still projected by a lot of draft analysts to be in the conversation with the Guardians as the top pick in the draft as late as Sunday morning. Instead, the Guardians went in another direction.
“There was a lot of uncertainty about what would happen. It wasn’t clear cut,” said Randy Flores, the Cardinals’ assistant general manager and scouting director.
In a zoom call with St. Louis media, Wetherholt said, “A lot of that happened behind the scenes that I didn’t really pay much attention to. I did know I wasn’t going to go there before the pick happened.”
When it was time for the Cardinals to make their pick, the seventh overall choice, Wetherholt was there waiting for them.
“There was a need to wait and react,” Flores said. “As the draft unfolded and the picks proceeded, we were very excited. He’s hit and he’s always hit. What was impressive to our scouting group was that he did it against the best competition and he did it while nursing some soreness. Oftentimes in this day and age it’s natural for players to want to only play when they are 100 percent.
“He was someone that knew even though he was limited a little bit physically he was taking at-bats and DHing, going so far as to hit a home run and not just jog out the home run in order to preserve his legs.”
Wetherholt is the highest pick the Cardinals have had in the draft since choosing J.D. Drew with the fifth overall choice in 1998.
There was more of a spotlight on Flores and the Cardinals making this pick – they had never drafted higher than 18th since Flores began running the draft. Flores, however, thinks the spotlight will now shift to Wetherholt – and that he will be ready for it.
“The pressure is always there no matter where you pick,” lores said. “I think rather than saying the spotlight or the pressure was on me, it’s that we believe J.J. can handle the spotlight on him.”
Wetherholt and his family attended the draft in person in Fort Worth, Texas, where he recalled waking up from a dream about a month ago with a vision that he was going to go to the Cardinals.
“I woke up from a nap one day and texted my advisor that I had a vision of the Cardinals,” Wetherholt. “I said I might be going to the Cardinals man. Turns out that’s where we went.
“I really forgot about it and then it happened. I was like, ‘Oh shoot, that’s crazy.’”
Wetherholt led NCAA Division I with a .449 average as a sophomore in 2023, earning Big 12 player of the year honors, which is why a lot of scouting services ranked him as an early candidate to be the top overall pick in this year’s draft.
Because of the injury, however, Wetherholt was limited to 36 games this season, posting a .331 average, often playing when he was not 100 percent healthy. For his three-year college career, Wetherholt posted a .370 average with 29 homers and 129 RBIs in 145 games. He struck out 82 times in 557-at bats, matching his walk total. He only struck out 17 times this season in 124 at-bats.
“I wasn’t my full self and missed a lot of time but it was a learning experience,” Wetherholt said.
Flores said the Cardinals met with Wetherholt at the MLB Combine and were impressed by the work that Wetherholt had put in to regain his health and get back on the field.
Wetherholt is from Mars, Pa., the same town that produced Pirates’ closer David Bednar. In fact, Wetherholt’s high school coach was Andy Bednar, David’s father.
He was not heavily recruited out of high school, committing to West Virginia after his freshman season. As a senior he was ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 32 player in the state of Pennsylvania. The scouting service ranked him as the 225th best second baseman.
At West Virginia he was a teammate of Victor Scott II, now one of the Cardinals’ top prospects.
There is a story behind how Wetherholt got the nickname J.J. His given name is Jonathan but his family had called him John-John when he was growing up. When he went to a youth football camp, the coach asked him for his name. When he said “John-John,” the coach said he was going to call him J.J. instead – and the name stuck.
The Cardinals’ projection is that Wetherholt will begin his pro career at shortstop, but he said he also was comfortable playing second base.
Wetherholt was the Cardinals’ only selection on the first day of the draft. They forfeited their second-round pick when they signed free agent Sonny Gray.
The draft will continue on Monday with rounds three through 10, where the Cardinals have the sixth pick in each round.
Photo by AP courtesy of KSDK Sports
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
