JJ Wetherholt showed off his power in a Grapefruit League contest against the New York Mets
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Hey everyone, Taron Kovach here with Roundtable Sports for a quick St. Louis Cardinals update.
So it took a couple games, but, JJ Wetherholt, finally flashed the power that, is part of the reason why he’s considered such a, premium prospect in baseball at this moment.
In the Cardinals’, loss against the New York Mets on Friday, it was a fourteen-three loss.
Wetherholt provided one of the only highlights for the Cardinals.
he hit his first hit period of, Grapefruit League action this year.
it was a solo home run that, had an exit velocity of one-oh-five point four miles per hour and traveled four hundred twenty-two feet.
It was a solo home, home run.
He finished the game one for three with a run and an RBI that came from the homer.
Wetherholt this year has a lot of expectations for him.
He’s expected to break camp with the Cardinals as the team’s starting second baseman.
so far, as I mentioned before, Wetherholt’s only had that one hit, which again, solo home run that traveled far, so a pretty good hit to have.
so far this spring, slashing one sixty-seven, five hundred, six sixty-seven with a one point one six seven OPS, in four games.
He’s also, stolen a base and drawn four walks, so still finding a way to get on base even without getting a hit.
Wetherholt was originally a seventh overall pick in the twenty twenty-four an- MLB draft out of, West Virginia.
Played twenty-nine games in Single-A ball the summer, after he was drafted, and the Cardinals saw enough from him in, Single-A ball and, his twenty twenty-five spring, where he was a non-roster invite to Major League camp, to have him skip High-A ball entirely and go to Double-A.
In twenty twenty-five, he slashed three-oh-six, four twenty-one, five ten with a nine thirty-one OPS in a hundred and nine games across Double-A and Triple-A with, twenty-eight doubles, two triples, and seventeen home runs to go with fifty-nine RBIs.
Also, stole twenty s- twenty-three bases in twenty-six opportunities.
Currently, the ZIPS projection model from FanGraphs has it, has him finishing with a overall solid season, two fifty-four, three thirty-eight, three sixty-seven slash line with a seven-oh-five OPS, ten homers, sixty-two RBIs in a hundred and seventeen games.
He also has the third-best odds, according to BetMGM, to win the National League Rookie of the Year behind Connor Griffin, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and, starting pitcher Nolan McLain for the New York Mets.
obviously, the Cardinals still have a, a bit of ways to go before they can get back to contender status, but if things can go as planned, Wetherholt will be one of, if not the face of the franchise, by the time they do get to that point.
For more St. Louis Cardinals news and updates, make sure to follow me on social media at Taron underscore Kovach, and also join our Cardinals Roundtable page by scanning the QR code there at the top left of the screen.