JJ Wetherholt off to hot start in Memphis

[Ronnie Dobbs]

The guy could have went 1-1 for a reason. Most exciting prospect we've had in a long time. When is the last time we drafted or traded for a guy and he just did exactly what we thought he could do from the moment he stepped foot in the organization?

[bccardsfan]

Wetherholt's pitch recognition is far superior. Watch him bat - he holds up on bad pitches and hammers the good ones with a short but very fast swing.

He has a .419 OBP in the minors. He had a .467 OBP in college. He had a .477 OBP in other leagues. And watch him - he doesn't get cheated on his swings.

Agreed. I’m excited to see him in St. Louis. Give him July and August in Memphis, call him up in September IMO.

Yes. I think they will handle him like they did Winn. Late season call up.

Yep. He has to be on the roster on Aug. 31 to be eligible for playoffs. So there is that too if the team is still in contention in late August. Also, if they are rolling offensively or challenged. Then there is the service clock thing.... Will be interesting to watch.

[Futuregm2]

The guy could have went 1-1 for a reason. Most exciting prospect we've had in a long time. When is the last time we drafted or traded for a guy and he just did exactly what we thought he could do from the moment he stepped foot in the organization?

Jordan Walker

He hit .317 with a .936 OPS his first year in the minors and .306 with an .898 OPS his 2nd year in the minors.

Wetherholt has a .303 avg with a .912 OPS this year at close to the same age as Walker right now in AA/AAA.

[JuanAgosto]

Wetherholt's pitch recognition is far superior. Watch him bat - he holds up on bad pitches and hammers the good ones with a short but very fast swing.

He has a .419 OBP in the minors. He had a .467 OBP in college. He had a .477 OBP in other leagues. And watch him - he doesn't get cheated on his swings.

Agreed. I’m excited to see him in St. Louis. Give him July and August in Memphis, call him up in September IMO.

Yes. I think they will handle him like they did Winn. Late season call up.

Yep. He has to be on the roster on Aug. 31 to be eligible for playoffs. So there is that too if the team is still in contention in late August. Also, if they are rolling offensively or challenged. Then there is the service clock thing.... Will be interesting to watch.

If he's as advertised, the service clock won't matter. They will extend him before free agency.

[Goldfan]

The guy could have went 1-1 for a reason. Most exciting prospect we've had in a long time. When is the last time we drafted or traded for a guy and he just did exactly what we thought he could do from the moment he stepped foot in the organization?

Jordan Walker

He hit .317 with a .936 OPS his first year in the minors and .306 with an .898 OPS his 2nd year in the minors.

Wetherholt has a .303 avg with a .912 OPS this year at close to the same age as Walker right now in AA/AAA.

How did he perform at AAA?

[Futuregm2]

The guy could have went 1-1 for a reason. Most exciting prospect we've had in a long time. When is the last time we drafted or traded for a guy and he just did exactly what we thought he could do from the moment he stepped foot in the organization?

Jordan Walker

He hit .317 with a .936 OPS his first year in the minors and .306 with an .898 OPS his 2nd year in the minors.

Wetherholt has a .303 avg with a .912 OPS this year at close to the same age as Walker right now in AA/AAA.

How did he perform at AAA?

Well he was called up to the MLB from AA, so he didn’t play in AAA until after the Cardinals started to screw with his mind.

I’m just pointing out that yes we did have an exciting prospect who was doing what we thought he could not long ago.

[Strummer Jones]

Wetherholt's pitch recognition is far superior. Watch him bat - he holds up on bad pitches and hammers the good ones with a short but very fast swing.

He has a .419 OBP in the minors. He had a .467 OBP in college. He had a .477 OBP in other leagues. And watch him - he doesn't get cheated on his swings.

Agreed. I’m excited to see him in St. Louis. Give him July and August in Memphis, call him up in September IMO.

Yes. I think they will handle him like they did Winn. Late season call up.

Yep. He has to be on the roster on Aug. 31 to be eligible for playoffs. So there is that too if the team is still in contention in late August. Also, if they are rolling offensively or challenged. Then there is the service clock thing.... Will be interesting to watch.

Did the rules change for that? I could have sworn that rule only applied to outside additions. Like when we had Juan Nicasio for a few weeks in September. As I remember, so long as that player was in the organization before 8/31, it was all good.

[rockondlouie]

Could JJW give this lineup a "jolt" in September?

Let's hope we get a chance to see if he can!

[scoutyjones2]

The guy could have went 1-1 for a reason. Most exciting prospect we've had in a long time. When is the last time we drafted or traded for a guy and he just did exactly what we thought he could do from the moment he stepped foot in the organization?

Jordan Walker

He hit .317 with a .936 OPS his first year in the minors and .306 with an .898 OPS his 2nd year in the minors.

Wetherholt has a .303 avg with a .912 OPS this year at close to the same age as Walker right now in AA/AAA.

How did he perform at AAA?

Well he was called up to the MLB from AA, so he didn’t play in AAA until after the Cardinals started to screw with his mind.

I’m just pointing out that yes we did have an exciting prospect who was doing what we thought he could not long ago.

LoL. Cards didn't screw with his mind. They wanted the linebackerk to stop hitting worm burners and get some loft.

Kids a failure and running out of controllable time.

[Clubmaker2]

The guy could have went 1-1 for a reason. Most exciting prospect we've had in a long time. When is the last time we drafted or traded for a guy and he just did exactly what we thought he could do from the moment he stepped foot in the organization?

Jordan Walker

He hit .317 with a .936 OPS his first year in the minors and .306 with an .898 OPS his 2nd year in the minors.

Wetherholt has a .303 avg with a .912 OPS this year at close to the same age as Walker right now in AA/AAA.

How did he perform at AAA?

Well he was called up to the MLB from AA, so he didn’t play in AAA until after the Cardinals started to screw with his mind.

I’m just pointing out that yes we did have an exciting prospect who was doing what we thought he could not long ago.

LoL. Cards didn't screw with his mind. They wanted the linebackerk to stop hitting worm burners and get some loft.

Kids a failure and running out of controllable time.

To call someone to MLB and then say , oh, this org has just noticed you swing the bat wrong, even though it got you here, why dont you change it now at the MLB level against the worlds best pitchers, after us letting you do it wrong for years.....that is incompetence and screwing with people.

[scoutyjones2]

The guy could have went 1-1 for a reason. Most exciting prospect we've had in a long time. When is the last time we drafted or traded for a guy and he just did exactly what we thought he could do from the moment he stepped foot in the organization?

Jordan Walker

He hit .317 with a .936 OPS his first year in the minors and .306 with an .898 OPS his 2nd year in the minors.

Wetherholt has a .303 avg with a .912 OPS this year at close to the same age as Walker right now in AA/AAA.

How did he perform at AAA?

Well he was called up to the MLB from AA, so he didn’t play in AAA until after the Cardinals started to screw with his mind.

I’m just pointing out that yes we did have an exciting prospect who was doing what we thought he could not long ago.

LoL. Cards didn't screw with his mind. They wanted the linebackerk to stop hitting worm burners and get some loft.

Kids a failure and running out of controllable time.

To call someone to MLB and then say , oh, this org has just noticed you swing the bat wrong, even though it got you here, why dont you change it now at the MLB level against the worlds best pitchers, after us letting you do it wrong for years.....that is incompetence and screwing with people.

LoL. No... Kids proven he isn't learning and MLB is not where it should be happening

[rockondlouie]

I've said this before, but maybe it's getting close to time to believe what we're seeing and this IS who J. Walk is.

Maybe he's just not good enough for MLB?

Happens all the time in MLB to former highly touted "prospects" who become "suspects" once they reach MLB and teams get a book on them.

MLB is al about making ADJUSTMENTS.

J. Walk hasn't been able to do that once scouts/pitchers figured out his weaknesses.

[Futuregm2]

I've said this before, but maybe it's getting close to time to believe what we're seeing and this IS who J. Walk is.

Maybe he's just not good enough for MLB?

Happens all the time in MLB to former highly touted "prospects" who become "suspects" once they reach MLB and teams get a book on them.

MLB is al about making ADJUSTMENTS.

J. Walk hasn't been able to do that once scouts/pitchers figured out his weaknesses.

It feels a little bit like Jo Adell. Adell came up the #1 prospect in baseball and had a -1.8 bWAR and .616 OPS through his first 3 MLB seasons (totaling 557 PAs). He basically spent his entire 2023 season in AAA as his final option. Then had 450 PAs last year in MLB and put up a .682 OPS. Now in his age 26 season he has an .815 OPS with 15 HR/53 RBI for the Angels.

So what I’m saying is that we should trade him with the condition that we get him back in 2028.

Not sure Jordan will follow the same pattern, but it just feels disappointing.

[rockondlouie]

I've said this before, but maybe it's getting close to time to believe what we're seeing and this IS who J. Walk is.

Maybe he's just not good enough for MLB?

Happens all the time in MLB to former highly touted "prospects" who become "suspects" once they reach MLB and teams get a book on them.

MLB is al about making ADJUSTMENTS.

J. Walk hasn't been able to do that once scouts/pitchers figured out his weaknesses.

It feels a little bit like Jo Adell. Adell came up the #1 prospect in baseball and had a -1.8 bWAR and .616 OPS through his first 3 MLB seasons (totaling 557 PAs). He basically spent his entire 2023 season in AAA as his final option. Then had 450 PAs last year in MLB and put up a .682 OPS. Now in his age 26 season he has an .815 OPS with 15 HR/53 RBI for the Angels.

Not sure Jordan will follow the same pattern, but it just feels disappointing.

Great comp

Adell Age 21 - 25
.211 .268 .381 .649

Let's hope Walker (age 21 - 23: .245 .306 .393 .699) figures it out quicker than Adell.

[An Old Friend]

I've said this before, but maybe it's getting close to time to believe what we're seeing and this IS who J. Walk is.

Maybe he's just not good enough for MLB?

Happens all the time in MLB to former highly touted "prospects" who become "suspects" once they reach MLB and teams get a book on them.

MLB is al about making ADJUSTMENTS.

J. Walk hasn't been able to do that once scouts/pitchers figured out his weaknesses.

It feels a little bit like Jo Adell. Adell came up the #1 prospect in baseball and had a -1.8 bWAR and .616 OPS through his first 3 MLB seasons (totaling 557 PAs). He basically spent his entire 2023 season in AAA as his final option. Then had 450 PAs last year in MLB and put up a .682 OPS. Now in his age 26 season he has an .815 OPS with 15 HR/53 RBI for the Angels.

Not sure Jordan will follow the same pattern, but it just feels disappointing.

Great comp

Adell Age 21 - 25
.211 .268 .381 .649

Let's hope Walker (age 21 - 23: .245 .306 .393 .699) figures it out quicker than Adell.

Organizations need to put the tools and strategies in place to put their players in the position to have success.

I'd argue both players had organizations that failed them.

[ramfandan]

While 3 games is a small sample size, JJ has come out hot ... He is 4 for 11 with 1 double, 1 triple, and 1 home run .
His batting avg. is .364 with a 1.326 OPS

Pretty much a foregone conclusion Wetherholt will be brought up in September to get his 'cup of coffee' in The Show. Would be a bonus for him if the Cardinals would still have a shot at one of the playoff spots. Get a taste of what it is like to be in the hunt even if for a possible wildcard spot.

I don't think they will bring him up. But I thought he should have started on the team to begin the year. Cards are playing it too soft with him

They may not but why wouldn't they give him a taste of major league pitching for up to 130 at bats ( the limit for preserving his rookie status for 2026).
He will have the rest of July, all of August in Memphis. I see no reason not to give him 20+ games ( 3 weeks in September with the 'big boys' . )
They brought up Masyn Winn a couple years ago for a 'look see' in September. Don't see why they wouldn't do so with Wetherholt .