JJ breaking new ground

[hugeCardfan]

It's not every day that the St. Louis Cardinals have a top-three prospect in all of baseball, but according to The Athletic's Keith Law, that is exactly what they have on their hands in the form of JJ Wetherholt.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/jj ... r-AA1Je8cP

[TraveledLessRoad]

Who are the 2 ahead of him?

[Futuregm2]

Who are the 2 ahead of him?

Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark…both are Detroit Tigers prospects.

[TraveledLessRoad]

Thanks.

It's nice to be rich

[Futuregm2]

Btw, Liam Doyle was rated 23rd as well. Only Ethan Holliday (20th) was higher than him from this year’s draft class.

“ Doyle was the top pitcher on my pre-draft board, as he had the draft’s most unhittable fastball, up to 100 with life up in the zone that hitters struggled to pick up out of his hand. He’s got a plus splitter to pair with it, working up with the heater and down with the split, along with a slider that doesn’t grade out that well on shape but that plays up because of the deception in the delivery and the way hitters were geared up for the fastball. Some teams didn’t love the delivery and thought he’d end up in relief; I see that possibility, but he also repeats his mechanics so well and holds his stuff deep into games well enough that he has to go out as a starter. The Cardinals might be the perfect spot for him to refine the slider and maybe make some small changes to the delivery to improve his odds of staying in the rotation. He has No. 2 starter upside and, at worst, looks like he’d be an animal out of the pen.”

On JJ:

“ What if Wetherholt was, in fact, the best player in the 2024 draft class all along? He slipped to the seventh pick in large part because he was hurt so much of the spring with a recurring hamstring issue that dated back to the previous summer. He hit .300/.425/.466 in Double A this year, barely missing a day, and went 8 for 20 in his first six games in Triple A, with a .400/.500/.800 line there in the small sample. He’s probably going to move over to second base in deference to a plus defender at some point, but he’s an average or so shortstop with good instincts. The value here is the bat, and he can really, really hit.”

[craviduce]

Who are the 2 ahead of him?

Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark…both are Detroit Tigers prospects.

That W. Michigan team before the ASB was a thing to behold...they promoted 4 of their prospects from the Top 100 to AA at the break. I imagine their AA team is now unbeatable

[craviduce]

Btw, Liam Doyle was rated 23rd as well. Only Ethan Holliday (20th) was higher than him from this year’s draft class.

“ Doyle was the top pitcher on my pre-draft board, as he had the draft’s most unhittable fastball, up to 100 with life up in the zone that hitters struggled to pick up out of his hand. He’s got a plus splitter to pair with it, working up with the heater and down with the split, along with a slider that doesn’t grade out that well on shape but that plays up because of the deception in the delivery and the way hitters were geared up for the fastball. Some teams didn’t love the delivery and thought he’d end up in relief; I see that possibility, but he also repeats his mechanics so well and holds his stuff deep into games well enough that he has to go out as a starter. The Cardinals might be the perfect spot for him to refine the slider and maybe make some small changes to the delivery to improve his odds of staying in the rotation. He has No. 2 starter upside and, at worst, looks like he’d be an animal out of the pen.”

On JJ:

“ What if Wetherholt was, in fact, the best player in the 2024 draft class all along? He slipped to the seventh pick in large part because he was hurt so much of the spring with a recurring hamstring issue that dated back to the previous summer. He hit .300/.425/.466 in Double A this year, barely missing a day, and went 8 for 20 in his first six games in Triple A, with a .400/.500/.800 line there in the small sample. He’s probably going to move over to second base in deference to a plus defender at some point, but he’s an average or so shortstop with good instincts. The value here is the bat, and he can really, really hit.”

Law didn't slobber all over Arquette like BA and MLB.com did. That's good to see.

I think I'll send Law a "Cooking with Salsa" cookbook by Matt Carpenter as a Christmas gift this year. He's trying get on our good side

[hugeCardfan]

Btw, Liam Doyle was rated 23rd as well. Only Ethan Holliday (20th) was higher than him from this year’s draft class.

“ Doyle was the top pitcher on my pre-draft board, as he had the draft’s most unhittable fastball, up to 100 with life up in the zone that hitters struggled to pick up out of his hand. He’s got a plus splitter to pair with it, working up with the heater and down with the split, along with a slider that doesn’t grade out that well on shape but that plays up because of the deception in the delivery and the way hitters were geared up for the fastball. Some teams didn’t love the delivery and thought he’d end up in relief; I see that possibility, but he also repeats his mechanics so well and holds his stuff deep into games well enough that he has to go out as a starter. The Cardinals might be the perfect spot for him to refine the slider and maybe make some small changes to the delivery to improve his odds of staying in the rotation. He has No. 2 starter upside and, at worst, looks like he’d be an animal out of the pen.”

On JJ:

“ What if Wetherholt was, in fact, the best player in the 2024 draft class all along? He slipped to the seventh pick in large part because he was hurt so much of the spring with a recurring hamstring issue that dated back to the previous summer. He hit .300/.425/.466 in Double A this year, barely missing a day, and went 8 for 20 in his first six games in Triple A, with a .400/.500/.800 line there in the small sample. He’s probably going to move over to second base in deference to a plus defender at some point, but he’s an average or so shortstop with good instincts. The value here is the bat, and he can really, really hit.”

If I recall correctly, took Kershaw a couple years to develop the slider, but when he did.... I hope they don't tinker too much with his mechanics.

Now if they can get McGreevy, Mathews, Hjerpe, and Roby to fit into the rotation. I'm kind of giving up on Hence to be anything but reliever (but what a reliever he could be).

[An Old Friend]

Btw, Liam Doyle was rated 23rd as well. Only Ethan Holliday (20th) was higher than him from this year’s draft class.

“ Doyle was the top pitcher on my pre-draft board, as he had the draft’s most unhittable fastball, up to 100 with life up in the zone that hitters struggled to pick up out of his hand. He’s got a plus splitter to pair with it, working up with the heater and down with the split, along with a slider that doesn’t grade out that well on shape but that plays up because of the deception in the delivery and the way hitters were geared up for the fastball. Some teams didn’t love the delivery and thought he’d end up in relief; I see that possibility, but he also repeats his mechanics so well and holds his stuff deep into games well enough that he has to go out as a starter. The Cardinals might be the perfect spot for him to refine the slider and maybe make some small changes to the delivery to improve his odds of staying in the rotation. He has No. 2 starter upside and, at worst, looks like he’d be an animal out of the pen.”

On JJ:

“ What if Wetherholt was, in fact, the best player in the 2024 draft class all along? He slipped to the seventh pick in large part because he was hurt so much of the spring with a recurring hamstring issue that dated back to the previous summer. He hit .300/.425/.466 in Double A this year, barely missing a day, and went 8 for 20 in his first six games in Triple A, with a .400/.500/.800 line there in the small sample. He’s probably going to move over to second base in deference to a plus defender at some point, but he’s an average or so shortstop with good instincts. The value here is the bat, and he can really, really hit.”

Law didn't slobber all over Arquette like BA and MLB.com did. That's good to see.

I think I'll send Law a "Cooking with Salsa" cookbook by Matt Carpenter as a Christmas gift this year. He's trying get on our good side

I used to correspond with him and interviewed him for the old Cardinals Farm website. He was generous with his time and really enjoyable to speak with. The bias that so many fans claim he has is funny. He doesn’t care about anyone’s team.

[rockondlouie]

Btw, Liam Doyle was rated 23rd as well. Only Ethan Holliday (20th) was higher than him from this year’s draft class.

“ Doyle was the top pitcher on my pre-draft board, as he had the draft’s most unhittable fastball, up to 100 with life up in the zone that hitters struggled to pick up out of his hand. He’s got a plus splitter to pair with it, working up with the heater and down with the split, along with a slider that doesn’t grade out that well on shape but that plays up because of the deception in the delivery and the way hitters were geared up for the fastball. Some teams didn’t love the delivery and thought he’d end up in relief; I see that possibility, but he also repeats his mechanics so well and holds his stuff deep into games well enough that he has to go out as a starter. The Cardinals might be the perfect spot for him to refine the slider and maybe make some small changes to the delivery to improve his odds of staying in the rotation. He has No. 2 starter upside and, at worst, looks like he’d be an animal out of the pen.”

On JJ:

“ What if Wetherholt was, in fact, the best player in the 2024 draft class all along? He slipped to the seventh pick in large part because he was hurt so much of the spring with a recurring hamstring issue that dated back to the previous summer. He hit .300/.425/.466 in Double A this year, barely missing a day, and went 8 for 20 in his first six games in Triple A, with a .400/.500/.800 line there in the small sample. He’s probably going to move over to second base in deference to a plus defender at some point, but he’s an average or so shortstop with good instincts. The value here is the bat, and he can really, really hit.”

Law didn't slobber all over Arquette like BA and MLB.com did. That's good to see.

I think I'll send Law a "Cooking with Salsa" cookbook by Matt Carpenter as a Christmas gift this year. He's trying get on our good side

Better include some toasted ravioli's, IMO's pizza and Ted Drews too.

[Carp4Cy]

Btw, Liam Doyle was rated 23rd as well. Only Ethan Holliday (20th) was higher than him from this year’s draft class.

“ Doyle was the top pitcher on my pre-draft board, as he had the draft’s most unhittable fastball, up to 100 with life up in the zone that hitters struggled to pick up out of his hand. He’s got a plus splitter to pair with it, working up with the heater and down with the split, along with a slider that doesn’t grade out that well on shape but that plays up because of the deception in the delivery and the way hitters were geared up for the fastball. Some teams didn’t love the delivery and thought he’d end up in relief; I see that possibility, but he also repeats his mechanics so well and holds his stuff deep into games well enough that he has to go out as a starter. The Cardinals might be the perfect spot for him to refine the slider and maybe make some small changes to the delivery to improve his odds of staying in the rotation. He has No. 2 starter upside and, at worst, looks like he’d be an animal out of the pen.”

On JJ:

“ What if Wetherholt was, in fact, the best player in the 2024 draft class all along? He slipped to the seventh pick in large part because he was hurt so much of the spring with a recurring hamstring issue that dated back to the previous summer. He hit .300/.425/.466 in Double A this year, barely missing a day, and went 8 for 20 in his first six games in Triple A, with a .400/.500/.800 line there in the small sample. He’s probably going to move over to second base in deference to a plus defender at some point, but he’s an average or so shortstop with good instincts. The value here is the bat, and he can really, really hit.”

If they both arrive in 26, why should Bloom wait longer to complete the rebuild? He should be using all that dry powder from next weeks selloff to fill out the next roster with controllable players or even a couple FAs to really compete in 2026. Its not like there's any extraordinary talent in our farm after these two that are worth putting the franchise on hold for. And we can always add to the 2027/28 rosters with any plus talent that does develop.

[butsir01]

Mo is changing JJ’s position to construction worker?