JJ Wetherholt leads the Cardinals in walks and is on pace to walk more than any Cardinals' rookie leadoff hitter in the storied history of the franchise. He heads into the five-game series against the Reds having already walked 62 times this season.
Self-aware and understanding that his best swing isn’t always going to be available to him, Cardinals’ rookie standout JJ Wetherholt noted that he is more than willing to take freebie handouts if pitchers are going to keep giving them to him.
Wetherholt, 23, exited the Cardinals’ series win over the rival Cubs with 62 walks in 118 games played. That is easily the most free passes on the Cardinals and has him on pace to blow past some rookie bests in the storied history of the franchise.
Wetherholt already has the second most walks in a season by a rookie leadoff hitter in Cardinals’ history, trailing only Don Blasingam’s 70 free passes in 1956. Also, Wetherholt’s 60 walks are the most by an MLB rookie leadoff hitter since Mike Trout walked 67 times during his American League Rookie of the Year season of 2012.
“Just getting on base is great,” said Wetherholt, who will be facing off against top Rookie of the Year competition Sal Stewart when the Cardinals play a doubleheader on Monday as the start of five games in four days against the Reds. “I’ve had a couple of stretches where I’ve walked a good bit and had good competitive at bats, but just not finding a lot of hits. That’s going to be the nature of it, probably my entire career. I just like to think, ‘Man, I’m in every at bat, I’m able to draw walks even when things aren’t going well. That’s good to have.”
Wetherholt, who could become the first Cardinal player to win the NL Rookie of the Year award since Albert Pujols in 2001, has already walked 14 times in just 13 games in August. He walked 12 times in May and July, and he could blow well past his high for a month when he drew 15 free passes in April.
Though he is just a rookie and seeing most pitchers for the first time in his career, Wetherholt has already developed a keen eye when it comes to protecting the plate. His chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone is just 21 percent, ranking him in MLB’s top 94th percentile, per Baseball Savant. Meanwhile, his walk rate (11.5 percent) and strikeout rate (15.7 percent) also put him in MLB’s upper crust.
A few more reasons why pitchers have tried to stay out of Wetherholt’s sweet spots and have walked him so often: He has a 43.9 percent hard-hit rate (67th percentile) and he has posted a squared-up rate of 30.7 percent (87th percentile).
Then, there’s also this when pitchers are attacking the sweet-swinging lefty: Wetherholt has smashed 14 homers and posted a .434 slugging percentage when attacking fastballs. He’s seeing fewer fastballs of late, and pitchers have slowed him with breaking balls (.300 slugging, one homer) and off-speed pitches (.254 slugging, one homer).
Wetherholt seeing fewer fastballs, taking more walks
When pitchers miss the strike zone with those breaking balls and off-speed pitches, Wetherholt is more than happy to take his walks. After all, a big part of his job as the Cardinals’ lead-off is to get on base for Jordan Walker (88 RBI), Alec Burleson (90 RBI) and Ivan Herrera (52 RBI).
“Top of the order being able to produce is huge,” said Wetherholt, who is hitting .243, but has a .350 on-base percentage with 13 doubles, 16 homers and 46 RBI. “When we’re playing our best baseball, those guys are kind of playing unconscious. You’re not always going to do that because it’s the nature of the game.
“So, for us to be the best team that we want to be, all four of us (at the top of the order) need to do well, me included. Here recently, we haven’t done a good job of that, but guys are really starting to turn it on and that can be big for us.”
Wetherholt said being willing to walk is akin to putting the team before yourself – something he has always prided himself on doing. There are times to be aggressive, Wetherholt pointed out, and times to take your walks.
“It always makes you think outside of yourself,” the rookie said. “There are days when we’re facing a guy and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is the perfect guy to swing first pitch.’ Or maybe our pitchers have a high pitch count in the first inning, and I’ve got to go up there and take.’
“But you’re trying to stay outside of (thinking of) yourself and you’re not trying to do too much. I want to have a good team at-bat. At times, when you’re not hitting well and you’re 0 for 4, I can think about having decent at bats and seeing a lot of pitches and draw positives from walks.”
