Cardinals JJ Wetherholt Hits First Professional Home Run

The St. Louis Cardinals have to be ecstatic after the performance they are already seeing from their first round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.

JJ Wetherholt, who was drafted seventh overall by the Cardinals out of West Virginia University. After signing for $6,900,000, just above the slot value for the 7th pick of $6,823,700, the infielder was assigned to Class A Palm Beach to get his professional career going.

According to MLB Pipeline, "Wetherholt might be the best pure hitter in the class and there are some area scouts who think he’s the best amateur bat they’ve ever seen." We are starting to see what they really meant by that statement in his first week with the Palm Beach Cardinals.

On Wednesday, Wetherholt hit his first home run as a professional baseball player and it was an impressive one. It went 389 feet and had an exit velocity of 100.7 MPH with a 34 degree launch angle.

It hasn't been just his home run that has impressed so far in his time with Palm Beach. Wetherholt has made multiple hits that are considered 'hard contact' with twelve hits over 95 MPH.

For WVU, Wetherholt was named the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2023 and was the preseason pick to go first overall in the MLB Draft before the 2024 season. Wetherholt slipped in the draft after not having the season he expected due to dealing with two hamstring injuries that limited his playing time at West Virginia. He finished 2024 hitting .331/.472/.589 with eight home runs, 30 RBIs, and six steals. He also recorded 30 walks and only 17 strikeouts across 164 plate appearances.

The infielder is currently splitting time at shortstop and designated hitter. Heading into Friday, he is currently hitting .206/.406/.417 across eight games. “The most important thing to me right now is building my routine and staying healthy,” said Wetherholt when asked about his transition into professional baseball.

The future for him at shortstop remains unclear, and with Masyn Winn holding down the prime position on the infield there is reason to believe Wetherholt will transition over to second base, a position he also played at WVU. His development will be one to keep an eye on for the rest of 2024 and beyond as he possesses the tools to climb the minor league levels quickly and possibly see his first major league action as early as 2025.