ST. LOUIS – Playful or not, Cardinals’ standout rookie JJ Wetherholt claimed to have no idea where the Cardinals were headed to play this next week until he got a series of text messages from parents, Mike and Holly Wetherholt, in recent days about his homecoming of sorts.
Wetherholt, who grew up 28 miles north of Pittsburgh in the tiny suburb of Mars, Pa., will be in Pittsburgh this week for the first time as an MLB player. A standout player from his youth baseball days, Wetherholt grew up around the sons of several former Pirates players, including Athletics star shortstop Jacob Wilson. Also, a former NCAA batting champion at West Virginia University, Wetherholt played three collegiate games at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park – something that might ease the jitters about a series he certainly has anticipated, but one he claims to have forgotten about during the grind of the MLB season.
“I definitely knew we were going to go to Pittsburgh, but I was getting texts from my parents like, ‘Hey, you’re coming to Pittsburgh next week!’ And that’s kind of how I knew,” Wetherholt said after the Cardinals’ 3-2 loss to the Mariners on Sunday at Busch Stadium. “I really don’t look too far in advance because I just kind of show up and play. But it will be cool being back there.”
Big fans of that JJ goes deep! pic.twitter.com/8pa0IuwQaA
Wetherholt, the top prospect in the Cardinals organization since being the No. 7 pick of the 2024 MLB Draft, will hit Pittsburgh riding the best stretch of his young career. He homered on Saturday and Sunday when pitchers dared to start coming into the zone against him – something they largely stayed away from doing early in the season as Wetherholt piled up plenty of walks.
Wetherholt, 23, has hit just .238 in 27 games, but he’s racked up a .363 on-base percentage with 15 walks and six hit by pitches. Among all MLB qualified rookies, he ranks second in runs (21), tied for fourth in homers (five), fourth in stolen bases (four), fifth in hits (24), fifth in on-base percentage (.363) and tied for seventh in RBI (13).
“We talked about it maybe a week ago about him being able to take his walks and then when they come in the zone he has a really good idea of what he’s trying to do and what he’s hunting,” Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol said. “When he gets (his pitch), he’s showing what he’s capable of doing.
“But that’s the back and forth of the league and sometimes with young guys when they stop throwing you strikes you chase and that’s when you see them spiral a little bit and they make adjustments that aren’t unnecessary. He just takes his walks and when they come back into the zone, he does what we’ve seen the last couple of days. So, he’s done a really nice job.”
Wetherholt said his memories of playing previously at PNC Park are good ones as West Virginia beat arch-rival Pittsburgh three straight times there. His favorite game there was the first time played at the Pirates home stadium.
“It’ll be cool playing there, but it will be a different environment because the West Virginia-Pitt game was not a packed house,” he joked. “This will probably be some better (crowds) because (the Pirates) are playing well. But on this stage, with it being the big leagues and me being to a ton of Pirates games, it will be cool. But all that aside, I’ve got to play good baseball.”
When he was drafted in 2024, Wetherholt admitted that many of his memories were of the Cardinals dominating the Pirates in Pittsburgh through the years. He hopes to have a large cheering section of fans and friends at the game, but he can’t be sure which team they will be cheering for to win the games.
“All the people I grew up with are Pirates fans and they are playing good baseball now, so a lot of them are already going to the game and it just happens that I will be there,” he joked. “I’ll have some of my family there, but most of the people have bought their own tickets and will be excited to be there at the game.”
Remember to join our CARDINALS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other CARDINALS fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!