Jim Bowden: JJ Wetherholt #2 Prospect in all MLB

[Bully4you]

JJ is rising.
A lot of hype.
May not see him until next spring.
Gotta have hope.

https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles ... 5_42680459

[moose-and-squirrel]

JJ is rising.
A lot of hype.
May not see him until next spring.
Gotta have hope.

https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles ... 5_42680459

wasn't Walker the #2 at one point?

[Bully4you]

JJ is rising.
A lot of hype.
May not see him until next spring.
Gotta have hope.

https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles ... 5_42680459

wasn't Walker the #2 at one point?

Yeah.
This is potentially your best shot at a Cardinal being the face of baseball.

[ClassicO]

The Cards have seldom had top 10 picks in the draft since it began in 1966.
When they have, it's been a story of some average to good players to make the majors, the best of whom are Drew and Van Slyke, just no superstars, with:

2025 - Doyle - #5
2024 - JJW -#7
1998 - Drew #5 (46 fWAR)
1996 - Braden Looper #3 (72W/65L)
1991- Dmitri Young - #4
1989 - Paul Coleman - #6 (worst by far -- had major red flags at the time)
1984 - Mike Dunne - #7 (one good year for the Pirates)
1981 - Bobby Meacham - #8 (infamous for being sent to the Yankees when Bob Sykes [traded for McGee] came up lame)
1979 - Andy Van Slyke - #6 (41.8 fWAR)
1977 - Terry Kennedy - #6
1971 - Ed Kurpiel - #8 (second worst pick)
1966 - Leron Lee - #7 (just one very good year for the Padres - 143 wRC+)

[blackinkbiz]

JJ is rising.
A lot of hype.
May not see him until next spring.
Gotta have hope.

https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles ... 5_42680459

wasn't Walker the #2 at one point?

Walker NEVER dominated AAA pitching. He did very well against AA, but his career OPS at AAA is less than .750.

JJ's batting .329 with a 1.032 OPS in his first stint against AAA pitching.

[Bully4you]

JJ has a good chance to be a super star.
He can just hit and is a good fielder.
Hope.
Hope.
It's all we have.

[pitchingandefense]

Why is he not a September call-up? I can't remember a top prospect who has performed this well not get a September cup of coffee. The team is out of contention and they have injuries in the infield which means there is playing time available. Age isn't an issue because he turns 23 next week. A spot on the 40 man can also easily be made.

Do they just not want him to be around the current coaching staff because they plan on letting a bunch of them go at the end of the season? This decision is very odd to not let him get his feet wet at the MLB level when he clearly should be in the plans for starting in 2026.

[rockondlouie]

The Cards have seldom had top 10 picks in the draft since it began in 1966.
When they have, it's been a story of some average to good players to make the majors, the best of whom are Drew and Van Slyke, just no superstars, with:

2025 - Doyle - #5
2024 - JJW -#7
1998 - Drew #5 (46 fWAR)
1996 - Braden Looper #3 (72W/65L)
1991- Dmitri Young - #4
1989 - Paul Coleman - #6 (worst by far -- had major red flags at the time)
1984 - Mike Dunne - #7 (one good year for the Pirates)
1981 - Bobby Meacham - #8 (infamous for being sent to the Yankees when Bob Sykes [traded for McGee] came up lame)
1979 - Andy Van Slyke - #6 (41.8 fWAR)
1977 - Terry Kennedy - #6
1971 - Ed Kurpiel - #8 (second worst pick)
1966 - Leron Lee - #7 (just one very good year for the Padres - 143 wRC+)

Yikes

Not a good draft record sans JDD, BL, AVS and TK.

Let's hope JJW & Doyle reverse the futility.

[Galatians221jb1]

Why is he not a September call-up? I can't remember a top prospect who has performed this well not get a September cup of coffee. The team is out of contention and they have injuries in the infield which means there is playing time available. Age isn't an issue because he turns 23 next week. A spot on the 40 man can also easily be made.

Do they just not want him to be around the current coaching staff because they plan on letting a bunch of them go at the end of the season? This decision is very odd to not let him get his feet wet at the MLB level when he clearly should be in the plans for starting in 2026.

According to D. Goold, we have too many minor leaguers that we have to protect on the next Rule 5 draft and JJW doesn’t need to be protected so they want to keep him off of the 40 man roster until after the draft and protect as many as possible.

[82birds]

Why is he not a September call-up? I can't remember a top prospect who has performed this well not get a September cup of coffee. The team is out of contention and they have injuries in the infield which means there is playing time available. Age isn't an issue because he turns 23 next week. A spot on the 40 man can also easily be made.

Do they just not want him to be around the current coaching staff because they plan on letting a bunch of them go at the end of the season? This decision is very odd to not let him get his feet wet at the MLB level when he clearly should be in the plans for starting in 2026.

According to D. Goold, we have too many minor leaguers that we have to protect on the next Rule 5 draft and JJW doesn’t need to be protected so they want to keep him off of the 40 man roster until after the draft and protect as many as possible.

and that makes sense

[billybaseball]

Why is he not a September call-up? I can't remember a top prospect who has performed this well not get a September cup of coffee. The team is out of contention and they have injuries in the infield which means there is playing time available. Age isn't an issue because he turns 23 next week. A spot on the 40 man can also easily be made.

Do they just not want him to be around the current coaching staff because they plan on letting a bunch of them go at the end of the season? This decision is very odd to not let him get his feet wet at the MLB level when he clearly should be in the plans for starting in 2026.

They want to get other players playing time that are on the 40 man.

[craviduce]

Why is he not a September call-up? I can't remember a top prospect who has performed this well not get a September cup of coffee. The team is out of contention and they have injuries in the infield which means there is playing time available. Age isn't an issue because he turns 23 next week. A spot on the 40 man can also easily be made.

Do they just not want him to be around the current coaching staff because they plan on letting a bunch of them go at the end of the season? This decision is very odd to not let him get his feet wet at the MLB level when he clearly should be in the plans for starting in 2026.

They want to get other players playing time that are on the 40 man.

agreed

he would eat up valuable playing time...deservedly so, but the goal is to see what you have in the others. Our season is over. Bring him up in April to start the season. There will be at least 1 or 2 players you can cut from the 40 man by then....and at least two guaranteed transfers to the 60 day IL...like Hjerpe, Hence and Roby

[PadsFS07]

JJ is rising.
A lot of hype.
May not see him until next spring.
Gotta have hope.

https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles ... 5_42680459

wasn't Walker the #2 at one point?

Walker was as high as #4 on the official BA.com and MLB.com top 100 lists.
Carlson was #9 on the BA list, but only #13 on MLB.
Taveras was as high as #3 on both lists and for two years in a row.
Alex Reyes was as high as #4 on BA and #6 on MLB.
Shelby Miller was #6 on BA and #5 on MLB.
Rasmus was #3 on BA and #8 on MLB.
Ankiel was #1 on BA.

[Red Bird Classic]

If it was anybody else, I'd ask: "who was ranked first?"

But when has Jim Bowden been right about anything?

[pitchingandefense]

Why is he not a September call-up? I can't remember a top prospect who has performed this well not get a September cup of coffee. The team is out of contention and they have injuries in the infield which means there is playing time available. Age isn't an issue because he turns 23 next week. A spot on the 40 man can also easily be made.

Do they just not want him to be around the current coaching staff because they plan on letting a bunch of them go at the end of the season? This decision is very odd to not let him get his feet wet at the MLB level when he clearly should be in the plans for starting in 2026.

They want to get other players playing time that are on the 40 man.

agreed

he would eat up valuable playing time...deservedly so, but the goal is to see what you have in the others. Our season is over. Bring him up in April to start the season. There will be at least 1 or 2 players you can cut from the 40 man by then....and at least two guaranteed transfers to the 60 day IL...like Hjerpe, Hence and Roby

I get that to an extent. But this player looks like he has a great shot to be the badly needed face of the franchise. If there was anyone I would flex my rules for a little bit it would be him, because I want to do everything I can to make him comfortable and ready for 2026. And the vast majority of the time teams do that for their top prospects by giving them a cup of coffee in September so they at least know some of the ins and outs of MLB before beginning their offseason. Plus, most of these guys currently rostered have already seen several hundred plate appearances and we should have an idea of what they are at this point.

[ramfandan]

Of course JJ has been rising up the prospect list quickly as the other teams are promoting their top selections to The Show.
It's not only improvement that moves a player closer to the top . It's also that players in the very top tier are being promoted and you natuarlly move up the list a couple notches.