By Rob Rains
MEMPHIS – It’s a Wednesday night, but in the grind that is life in the minor leagues, the day of the week doesn’t really matter. They are all the same, lined up one after another on the calendar from April to September. The players show up at the ballpark, go through their pre-game work, play a game, then retreat to their apartments or hotel rooms.
Tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, they will do it all over again.
The grind is still relatively new for JJ Wetherholt. It’s only been 372 days since he became a part of this world. He made his professional debut with the Class A Palm Beach Cardinals on July 30 of last year, two weeks after he was selected in the first round of the amateur draft.
The fact that on this night, Aug. 6, Wetherholt is preparing to play his 18th game in Triple A for the Memphis Redbirds and his 109th game as a professional is just part of his story. He has risen quickly from the lower levels of the minor leagues to the top, reaching the final stop before he will continue on to his ultimate destination, the major leagues, a goal he says he first dreamed about when he was five years old.
How did Wetherholt get to this point so quickly? With a lot of nights like this one, when the box score will show that he had two hits, walked and drove in a run in Memphis’ 3-1 win over the Durham Bulls.
What the box score doesn’t show, however, is all of the work and preparation that preceded his four plate appearances in the game, how he has embraced and thrived because of the daily grind. Step into a day in Wetherholt’s life, and the secret behind his success, and the reasons why he is not only the Cardinals’ top prospect but one of the best in baseball, becomes clear.
1:26 p.m.
Wetherholt leaves the apartment he shares with teammate Max Rajcic and makes the five-minute drive to AutoZone Park. He is almost always one of the first players to arrive, more than five hours before the scheduled start of the game.
Before leaving his apartment, Wetherholt has had a calm morning. He woke up, made a cup of coffee, then read two chapters in his Bible. That is what he tries to do every morning.
“The nature of our business is it’s stressful, it’s long and it’s sometimes hard and you don’t want to spend the extra time with the Lord but for me it’s something that I need to do and it’s reflected in the game,” Wetherholt said.
“When I’m going well my spirit is at peace and I’m spending time with God, having good conversations with my teammates. Sometimes when you are in a bad spot you’re not; so just be able to reflect on that and get back into it.
“It really dictates my entire day. It’s like the biggest thing about me that people probably don’t know about.”
Wetherholt values that quiet time in the morning because he knows once he arrives at the ballpark, it’s time to work.
The next few hours will be filled with a weight-lifting regimen, conditioning work, taking his turn hitting in the batting cage and thinking about the game. Everything is done with the singular purpose of becoming a better player in every facet of the game.
That’s something Ryan Barba quickly learned about Wetherholt after they met for the first time in January, after Barba was hired as the Cardinals’ minor-league field coordinator.
“The thing with JJ is just his preparation and his work ethic,” Barba said. “You watch a young player, in his first full season, and you hear about what he does off the field to prepare. You watch him before pre-game, watch him in the cage, watch him on defense. You have to make sure he is getting what he needs to get done to continue to improve.
“The one thing amongst others that stands out is how he goes about his business.”
Barba has a different reference point in evaluating players than many coaches and instructors in the minor leagues. He spent last season as a part of the Padres major-league staff. When he watches Wetherholt, he is watching through that lens.
“A lot of things I watched a lot of veterans do last year, it’s how JJ goes about his business,” Barba said. “It’s just professional and you see why he is having success. It’s because yes, he has talent, but he also prepares himself on a daily basis to physically go out there and perform every night.”
On this day, even though Barba is 725 miles away, working with the Double A Springfield Cardinals while they play in San Antonio, he can close his eyes and visualize exactly what is happening in Memphis.
Memphis manager Ben Johnson sees the same thing, with his eyes open, watching from a much closer vantage point.
“The harder you work the more confidence you seem to have in your abilities because you’ve done the work,” Johnson said. “He’s a hard worker. He puts the time in. It shows because he is going out and performing too.”
4:10 p.m.
The Redbirds are not taking batting practice on the field before the game, but they still will go through infield drills. With Wetherholt starting at shortstop, he fields ground balls and works on his footwork and throws to second and first from that spot on the infield. He goes through the other team fundamental drills as well.
“I could take 100 ground balls every day,” he said. “It’s just what I love to do. Same thing with hitting. Swinging a bat. Everything about baseball is what I love.
“Prep (preparation) is everything. You just want to put yourself in a good spot for the game, do it the right way. I like to think of it, ‘Did I deserve to do good today? Did I sleep well? Did I eat well? Did I hydrate? Did I take care of my body? Did I prep my swing? Did I go through my checklist of what I need to do to be in the best spot?’
“If I didn’t, then I can look back at the end of the day and say, ‘I didn’t do well today because I didn’t prepare the right way.’ With that being said, when you do have a day where you prepare the right way – like yesterday I did everything I needed to do very well – and I didn’t have a good day.
“You can be OK with that because I did what I was supposed to do. It’s just the nature of the game. It’s a hard game. You can do everything right and things can go wrong.”
Wetherholt has spent more time taking ground balls and working at third base in recent weeks. He has started a game there, and more starts at the position are in his immediate future, as well as starts at shortstop and second base.
The news that he was playing third for the first time a few days ago created buzz among Cardinals fans because it came soon after Nolan Arenado went on the injured list.
“We anticipated that,” Johnson said. “There’s more third in his future. We just are trying to create versatility. He’s athletic enough to move around a little bit. I would rather him get comfortable here then go up there (St. Louis) and try to learn a new position at the major-league level. That’s what we are preparing him for. You will see him at third, at second and at shortstop.”
When the team leaves the field, Wetherholt goes back into the clubhouse. He will get something to eat, then head off to the hitters meeting, learning what he can about tonight’s starting pitcher for Durham, right-hander Yoniel Curet, a 22-year-old who is making his first career Triple A start. Then he will pull out his I-pad to do his own video research.
“I will scout him so I know how I want to take my approach into the game and what I need to do to succeed,” Wetherholt said. “I watch what pitches people are hitting, where they are doing damage. I watch myself against similar pitch types. If he’s a sinker baller I watch myself get hits off sinker ballers. I want to know what his pitching style is and I want to see myself having success off that style of pitching.
“It gets good thoughts and some positivity flowing before the game.”
As Wetherholt passes through the clubhouse, he glances up at the television which is broadcasting the Cardinals’ day game from Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani is pitching, and that’s always worth a second look.
Wetherholt won’t spend much time watching, however, just as he doesn’t consume himself with what is happening on the field with the major-league team.
“I keep up with the team because those guys were good to me in spring training, and I try to pay attention,” Wetherholt said. “But at the end of the day you are just trying to do well yourself. The focus is on how you are doing. That’s all I try to do, take it day by day and focus on my process. Trying to get better. When your time comes, your time comes.”
It’s soon time for another meeting, this one to review last night’s game. Then Wetherholt will take another round or two of hitting in the indoor cage, just outside the Redbirds’ clubhouse.
When he finishes, he heads back to the clubhouse, showers and puts on his uniform, ready for the game.
6:51 p.m.
After a quick top of the first inning, Wetherholt steps into the batter’s box as the Redbirds’ leadoff hitter. He takes the first pitch for a ball, then fouls off a pitch, before grounding a single to right.
Leading off the game with a hit is becoming expected for Wetherholt, who is now 7-of-13 in the first inning as Memphis’ leadoff hitter. Three of the hits have been home runs.
Watching on the bench, pitcher Zach Plesac is not surprised. The Memphis player with the most major-league experience, 86 career starts, Plesac has faced more than 2,000 hitters in the major leagues in his career and he knows what he is watching in Wetherholt.
“His at-bats are quality at-bats,” Plesac said. “He has a game plan. He’s not swinging at pitches out of the zone. He attacks it. It’s such a pure swing and he is such a good athlete. You can tell he is going to be a great player one day.
“He goes up there expecting to get a hit every time. You can tell that by the way he walks up there, the way he carries himself. He’s a rare breed for sure.”
Wetherholt thinks his first-inning success has been the result of trying to maintain a simple approach.
“I want to try to see some pitches and figure out what the guy is going to do,” he said. “More than anything I am not trying to do anything crazy; just see what he has so I can tell the other guys.”
7:59 p.m.
Wetherholt, who drew a walk in the third inning, comes up in the fifth after Mike Antico leads off the inning with a walk. Antico steals second and goes to third on a throwing error by the catcher.
Wetherholt knows he is in a good spot to increase the Redbirds’ 2-0 lead.
“For me, that should always be an RBI in my opinion,” Wetherholt said.
Instead, Wetherholt strikes out swinging. It’s only his 10th strikeout in 67 at-bats for Memphis, and combined with the 62 games he played at Springfield, Wetherholt still has walked more times this season than he has struck out.
Still, it bothers him. If he closes his eyes he can hear his dad getting mad at him as a youngster when he struck out.
“He still doesn’t like it,” Wetherholt said. “I heard it so much growing up and I kind of agree with him. I really don’t like the feeling of the guy beating you. You can live with a hard-hit ball and an out because there’s confidence in that, but if you didn’t hit the ball there’s nothing to feel good about.
“Putting the bat on the ball, I should be able to do that every time. I know you can’t but that’s my mindset.”
Johnson has already seen that confidence in the short few weeks since Wetherholt joined his team. He’s confident without being arrogant, and that sometimes is a fine balancing act.
“The confidence he has comes from having a lot of success as a player,” Johnson said. “He is not arrogant; he doesn’t carry himself that way. But you can definitely see him going about his day to day and he is not afraid in any way. I don’t think he will scare when he gets to the big leagues either.
“When you work hard you gain confidence and he’s done both. He’s a good player who has had success and he works hard. The two together work well for him. It’s hard to not know you are good when you are moving the way he’s moving through the system and having the results that he’s having and performing the way that he is performing.”
That strikeout will bother Wetherholt for the next two innings, before he comes up to bat again in the seventh.
8:36 p.m.
Memphis now has a 2-1 lead as Wetherholt walks from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box following a one-out single by Antico, who reaches third on another throwing error.
Wetherholt gets ahead in the count 2-0 then takes a called strike. On the next pitch, he singles to right to drive in Antico and collect the RBI he didn’t get in the fifth, making it a 3-1 Memphis lead.
The two hits on the night raise Wetherholt’s average since he arrived in Memphis to .338.
“I need to do the job there,” he said. “The first time I didn’t. The second time I did. You never want what happens earlier to affect you too much. You have to remember to try to be dangerous in every at-bat.”
When the Springfield game is over, Barba will get online and see what happened not only in Memphis’ game but with all of the affiliates. When he sees what Wetherholt did, he won’t be surprised.
“You just watch the kid in general, you watch him in meetings, you see how intense he is and how prepared he is,” Barba said. “Then he speaks in the meetings and then he goes out and you watch him in the box. He takes pitches that are some nasty stuff.
“You watch him in the field and he is moving. He sees what pitch is coming and makes a slight move to his left or right. It goes along with anything in life; if you are prepared you are going to go out and watch these things and execute them at a high level. He is a fun dude to watch on a daily basis.”
Johnson agrees.
“The kid can hit,” Johnson said. “He’s a natural-born hitter. It’s God-given.
“It looks like he is playing free from pressure. There’s no hiding from it, it’s everywhere you look (prospect rankings). He’s just a player. He’s definitely hungry. He’s driven. He has his eyes focused on the major leagues.”
9:30 p.m.
At his home in southern Virginia, TC Calhoun has not had as much time to monitor Wetherholt’s game as would normally be the case. Tomorrow is the first day of school for his 9-year-old son Brooks and 6-year-old daughter Brie so that is the evening’s priority.
Still, Calhoun has tried to sneak a peak on social media to see what is happening. As the Cardinals’ area scout who signed Wetherholt, Calhoun has a vested interest in how he does – as is the case with all of the players Calhoun has brought to the organization.
“You root for them,” Calhoun said. “Your name is attached to them. You put a stamp on them. You want them to do well.”
After reading a book to his daughter, and putting her to bed, Calhoun finally can take a few minutes to look at what has happened in the game – even though when he first started scouting, a veteran in the business warned him not to consume himself with continually checking the box scores. He has not followed that advice.
“You can drive yourself crazy,” Calhoun said. “When I am home I might be watching something with my wife on television but I’m also scrolling on Twitter to see what some of the guys are doing.”
Calhoun said his son, who was a Little League All-Star this year playing for the Cardinals, “is on the JJ bandwagon. His stance looks like his. His swing looks like his.”
Calhoun thinks his son has picked out a pretty good role model.
“The type of makeup that JJ has, just from meeting with him for the first time several years ago now, and watching him now, nothing surprises me,” Calhoun said. “He checked every box leading up to this point and he continues to do that.
“He’s a big leaguer on and off the field in my mind. Hopefully if he stays healthy he is going to have a long career ahead of him.”
Sitting in the manager’s office down the hall from the clubhouse, Johnson is asked about other prospects who have come through Memphis on their way to St. Louis. He mentions Nolan Gorman and Tommy Edman as two who had similar traits to Wetherholt.
Both of those players had more minor-league experience than Wetherholt before they reached the Triple A level. That really, Johnson believes, is all Wetherholt is lacking, the last box he needs to check.
“When you move as fast as he has, you don’t learn what a lot of the veterans know, and that’s OK,” Johnson said. “Some of the finer details just come with polish, with getting exposed.
“Players don’t really come out and say what it is they do or don’t know. Sometimes you have to see it in a situation or real time to say, ‘OK maybe he didn’t know exactly what to do there.’ He is very coachable. There are just parts of the chess game that he hasn’t experienced.
“It’s the finer details of playing the game at a higher level. It will come for him but he’s moved so fast he hasn’t had a chance to really spend a lot of time playing against players with a lot of experience. That’s one thing you do get at this level.”
Wetherholt is a month shy of his 23rd birthday.
While Wetherholt is happy that six members of his 2024 draft class are already in the majors, becoming the seventh player on that list is not a topic that consumes any of his time.
“I’m more concerned with what I need to do to have success and continue to grow as a player,” Wetherholt said. “I’m having a good year. I’m definitely happy with where I am. I want to get a little better at everything and continue to progress – hit the ball a little harder, a little farther, a little more consistently. Playing better defense, learning more positions, learning how to run the bases better. I want to take advantage of things like that.”
10:40 p.m.
Wetherholt and Rajcic are back in their apartment.
“I have a lot of respect for him,” Rajcic said. “He is a great player obviously but he is an even better person off the field. You can’t tell if he’s gone 0-of-3 or 3-of-3 with three home runs; he’s the same guy.
“I will watch video of me pitching and he will be at shortstop calling strikes after I throw a pitch. He’s always happy to be at the field. He just loves the game.”
One of the reasons Rajcic said Wetherholt is a good roommate is because, “he’s got all of the gadgets.”
One of those gadgets is a pair of Normatec boots, which Wetherholt puts on his legs. It’s an air compression system that massages the legs and helps reduce muscle soreness.
He is wearing them as he starts to unwind from the day the same way he began it a dozen hours ago, by reading a couple of chapters in his Bible.
“I try to have the discipline to do it regardless of how I’m feeling,” said Wetherholt, who is still wearing the three bracelets on his left wrist that he wore all day, each inscribed with a different Bible verse.
Wetherholt has a few others that he will occasionally wear in a rotation, but today the three verses highlighted on the bracelets are Phillipians 4:13, Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28. One honors a college teammate at West Virginia whose brother passed away.
The three verses form the foundation of what Wetherholt believes. Phillipians 4:13 reads, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Romans 8:28 reads, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
“Just constantly talking to God, it keeps your mind at peace,” Wetherholt said.
There is one more task Wetherholt will complete before heading to bed.
Since college, he has been keeping a journal, writing down what happened during the day that he thinks was important or that he wants to remember.
“It’s a way to put to rest bad games or good games,” Wetherholt said. “I want to carry confidence into the next day. I don’t want to get too high if you have a good game or mess up your routine or process just because you played well. I try to find ways to put it all to rest before I go to bed.
“In general it’s a way to draw connections with how you are sleeping, how you are eating, how you are feeling, how your at-bats went. For the most part I write it down just to get it out of my head and leave it there.”
The journal entry tonight was an easy one.
“I prepped really well, I had a pretty long day with a good lift,” Wetherholt writes. “I made good choices at the plate. I had two hits; they weren’t the best swings, there’s always that. I played good defense and the team won.
“Today was a good day.”
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Photos courtesy of Memphis Redbirds
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