JJ Wetherholt

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JJ Wetherholt
St. Louis Cardinals
Shortstop / Second baseman
Born: (2002-09-10) September 10, 2002 (age 22)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Career highlights and awards

Jonathan David "JJ" Wetherholt (born September 10, 2002) is an American professional baseball shortstop and second baseman in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

College career

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Wetherholt attended Mars Area High School in Mars, Pennsylvania.[2] He went undrafted in the 2021 Major League Baseball draft and enrolled at West Virginia University to play college baseball for the Mountaineers.

As a freshman at West Virginia in 2022, Wetherholt played in 54 games (making 53 starts) and hit .308 with five home runs, 39 RBIs, 17 doubles, and 15 stolen bases.[3][4] That summer, he briefly played in the Northwoods League for the Madison Mallards with whom he batted .368 over 12 games.[5]

As a sophomore in 2023, Wetherholt garnered national attention.[6][7][8] He played in 55 games and batted .449 with 16 home runs, sixty RBIs, and 36 stolen bases.[9] He was named one of five finalists for the Dick Howser Trophy.[10][11] He was also named the Big 12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year.[12][13][14] Following the 2023 season, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[15][16] He also played for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.[17] Wetherholt injured his hamstring four games into the 2024 season, and missed over a month.[18][19] Over 36 games, he batted .331 with eight home runs and thirty RBIs.[20]

Legend
  GP  Games played  AB  At Bats  R  Runs
 H  Hits  HR  Home runs  RBI  Runs batted in
 BB  Base on balls (walks)  SB  Stolen bases  AVG.  Batting average
 OBP.  On-base %  SLG.  Slugging %  OPS  On-base plus slugging
College Statistics at West Virginia University
Year School AB GP R H 2B HR SLG. RBI AVG. SO OBP. SB
2022 West Virginia 208 54 53 64 17 5 .471 39 .308 43 .411 15
2023 West Virginia 225 55 67 101 24 16 .787 60 .449 22 .517 36
2024 West Virginia 124 36 30 41 8 8 .589 30 .331 17 .472 6
Total 557 145 148 206 49 29 .625 129 .370 82 .467 57

[21]

Professional career

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Wetherholt was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round with the seventh overall pick of the 2024 Major League Baseball draft.[22] On July 20, 2024, Wetherholt signed with the Cardinals on a $6.8 million contract.[23]

Three days after signing his professional contract with the Cardinals, Wetherholt was assigned to the rookie-league Florida Complex League Cardinals roster on July 23. He was quickly promoted to Single-A Palm Beach of the Florida State League on July 30 for the remainder of the season.[24] During the final week of the 2024 regular season, Wetherholt was named the Florida State League player of the week from September 2-9.[25] Wetherholt was also a key contributor in the subsequent playoff rounds, highlighted by a two-run triple in the seventh inning of the decisive championship game to help Palm Beach win their first Florida State league title since 2017.[26] Over 29 games for the season, Wetherholt hit .295 with two home runs and twenty RBI.

Wetherholt was assigned to the Double-A Springfield Cardinals to open the 2025 season.[27] He was selected to represent the Cardinals at the 2025 All-Star Futures Game at Truist Park.[28] On July 8, 2025, Wetherholt was promoted to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.[29]

References

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  1. ^ https://wvusports.com/news/2023/5/23/baseball-wetherholt-mazey-collect-major-awards-to-highlight-all-big-12-selections.aspx
  2. ^ "College sports notebook: Accolades keep rolling in for Mars grad, West Virginia's JJ Wetherholt". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  3. ^ "Wetherholt's rise to one of the best in WVU history". May 28, 2023.
  4. ^ "GSA Spotlight: West Virginia's JJ Wetherholt". USA Baseball.
  5. ^ "Last season and offseason shape baseball's new season". 247Sports.
  6. ^ Writer, Jonathan Hamilton, Staff (April 12, 2023). "WVU's JJ Wetherholt earning national attention". The Daily Athenaeum - West Virginia University.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Santa, John (March 31, 2023). "Mars graduate JJ Wetherholt among nation's best hitters in second season at West Virginia".
  8. ^ "Mars native JJ Wetherholt checking off boxes for West Virginia baseball". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  9. ^ MacDonald, Jared (June 6, 2023). "WVU baseball: Mazey says Wetherholt had 'the best season I've ever seen'". The Herald-Dispatch.
  10. ^ "College baseball: West Virginia's JJ Wetherholt, a Mars grad, named a Dick Howser Trophy finalist". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  11. ^ DiPaola, Jerry (June 8, 2023). "Mars graduate JJ Wetherholt of West Virginia named 1 of 5 finalists for Dick Howser Trophy". TribLIVE.com.
  12. ^ "Digging into the success of JJ Wetherholt".
  13. ^ "JJ Wetherholt enters NCAAs as more than just a hitter".
  14. ^ "J.J. Wetherholt awarded Big 12 Player of the Year honors". May 23, 2023.
  15. ^ "Jonathan Wetherholt - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  16. ^ "Wetherholt and Sauve team up in CCBL". June 17, 2023.
  17. ^ "Wetherholt homers in first start with Team USA". July 3, 2023.
  18. ^ Lockard, Melissa. "JJ Wetherholt is back atop MLB Draft boards after hamstring rehab saved his season at WVU". The New York Times.
  19. ^ "Chumley has led Mountaineers, as Wetherholt returns from injury".
  20. ^ "'Some guys come along that can single-handedly change the face of an entire program': Wetherholt's impact on Mountaineers not lost on Mazey". June 11, 2024.
  21. ^ https://wvusports.com/sports/baseball/roster/jj-wetherholt/17601
  22. ^ "Cards select WVU standout SS Wetherholt with No. 7 pick". MLB.com.
  23. ^ "Cardinals Sign First-Round Pick JJ Wetherholt". mlbtraderumors.com. July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  24. ^ "JJ Wetherholt Transactions - MiLB.com Transactions - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  25. ^ Terranova, Rob (September 12, 2024). "Minor League Player Spotlight: Cards' Wetherholt". MiLB.com. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  26. ^ Berman, Marc (September 19, 2024). "Palm Beach Cardinals capture Florida State League championship, taking 2-of-3 from Lakeland title". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  27. ^ Scranton, Lyndal (April 4, 2025). "Top Cardinals prospect JJ Wetherholt ready for Springfield debut". Springfield Daily Citizen. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  28. ^ https://www.mlb.com/news/each-team-s-prospects-headed-to-2025-mlb-futures-game
  29. ^ https://www.mlb.com/news/jj-wetherholt-promoted-to-triple-a
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