Cardinals' standout rookie JJ Wetherholt saw his recent struggles as a challenge that he described as 'fun' to battle through. He responded by smacking two first-pitch homers in a Wednesday defeat of the Guardians.
ST. LOUIS – There were signs already that Cardinals’ standout JJ Wetherholt is no typical rookie – the home run in his first MLB game, the clutch, walk-off winner in the next one and a slick glove that leads all second baseman in fielding – but another brazen moment emerged this week that indicated that the 23-year-old is mentally wired differently.
Bogged in the first mini-slump of his young MLB career, Wetherholt dove headlong into the work in hopes of regaining his swing. He worked for hours on the specialized pitching machine to sharpen his eye to make sure he wasn’t swinging at pitches outside the zone, and he refined a stroke that has always allowed him to successfully hit to all fields.
Most importantly, Wetherholt saw the struggles as a challenge he would embrace. Later, after smacking two first-pitch homers in a defeat of the Guardians, Wetherholt boldly admitted that he considered the process of working out of the skid as “fun.”
“As for the challenge aspect of it, it's something that is always fun to me,” said Wetherholt, who has sparked the St. Louis lineup from the leadoff spot with 12 walks and a sterling .354 on base percentage. “When you play this game, it’s inevitable that you’re going to get punched in the face. Not saying it’s been a terrible, cold start for me, but it was just that the barrel wasn’t where I wanted it to be. You can either respond in ways that can get you down or you can get to work. That’s what I was able to do – put the work in and focus more on the work than the outcomes and that helped me.”
Wetherholt has helped the Cardinals be something of a surprise team thus far this season. Despite trading away Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Brendan Donovan in the offseason, the Cardinals have stayed above .500 by impressively winning series against the Rays, Mets, Nats and Guardians. Their offense has thrived because of the power of Jordan Walker (eight home runs) and the patience of Ivan Herrera (18 walks, .386 on-base percentage) and Alec Burleson (11 walks, .375 on base percentage).
'He knows he's that guy'
Then, there’s the lift the Cardinals have gotten from Wetherholt, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft who needed slightly more than a year of seasoning in the Minor Leagues before arriving in St. Louis as the organization’s top-rated prospect. All he has done as a rookie is smash three home runs, drive in nine and go four of four in stolen base attempts. That he’s done all of that from the leadoff spot just makes it even more impressive, pitcher Michael McGreevy said.
“To see him batting lead off for a Major League Baseball team and hitting regardless of if it’s a righty or a lefty on the mound, that’s a pressurized state, but he handles it all so well,” said McGreevy, who came out of Spring Training impressed with Wetherholt being so willing to take his walks instead of pressing to produce. “The team here has let him know, ‘We want you to (lead off) because we know he’s that guy.’ I feel like he knows he’s that guy, but he doesn’t act like that huge prospect who thinks he always has to perform, hit 20 home runs and bats .300. He stays within himself and he sticks to his process. He’s the same guy in the clubhouse no matter how he’s swinging it.”
Wetherholt didn’t swing the bat great during a weekend series against the Red Sox and in the first game against the Guardians, going 2 for 16 with two strikeouts. Those struggles just hardened the resolve of Wetherholt, who arrived to Busch Stadium earlier than normal to get in extra time in the batting cage.
The result was the first multi-homer game of his MLB career. Both came off tough left-handed pitchers and both came on the first pitch – one a dead-pull homer to right and the final one an opposite-field shot where he stayed inside the baseball.
“That’s just who he is and he’s not going to panic,” Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol said. “He understands that this game is hard and he knows the work that is needed in order to have success. He’s comfortable to having those difficult conversations and he’s not going to put up a front and act like he’s got it all figured out. He’s going to continue to ask questions and figure out how to get a little better every day. It’s a lot of fun when you have a player who is that hungry for information and hunry to improve.
“So, that comment (about Wetherholt having fun dealing with his struggles) doesn’t surprise me at all.”
Added Wetherholt, who had a clutch sacrifice fly for the go-ahead RBI in Wednesday’s 5-4 defeat of Cleveland: “I’ve had an opportunity lately to get more work in and that’s just where my head goes when things aren’t going great. I’m like, ‘How can I pour more work in and figure this thing out?’ It’s been cool to work with the coaches … and bounce some ideas off their heads. We’ve been able to come together and come up with a plan of attack that’s helped me so far.”
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