The St. Louis Cardinals Select Pre-Season #1 Overall Prospect JJ Wetherholt In The MLB Draft

The St. Louis Cardinals Select Pre-Season #1 Overall Prospect JJ Wetherholt In The MLB Draft

with the seventh overall pick in the MLB draft the St Louis Cardinal selected a player that coming into the season was ranked number one overall by many experts this is locked on Cardinals you are locked on Cardinals your daily St Louis Cardinals podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey there Cardinal fans I’m JD ha and I’m a national radio Sports Anchor born and raised in the L and a lifetime Cardinals fan and I’m your host for lockon Cardinals part of the lockon podcast Network covering your team every day you can follow me on Twitter xjd sports radio you can follow the podcast at _ Cardinals I want to thank those of you who make locked on Cardinals your first listen every day we are free and available wherever you get your podcast we’re also on YouTube if you haven’t stopped by there yet make sure you do it like subscribe comment interact with us don’t be shy hit the notification button so you know when new episodes are posted this is a show serving Cardinal nation and giving the best fans in baseball all of the info about the birds on the bat this episode of lockon cardinals is brought to you by booking.com booking doy the right stay can make you a fan of any City even your Rivals check out booking.com for your stay today so the St Louis Cardinals did not end the first half of the season on a good note they get trounced by the Cubbies by the score of 8 to three on Sunday not great right not happy about it although you get a split you don’t lose ground you don’t gain ground but you don’t lose ground either so I guess things could be worse right but later on that night at the MLB draft I think some of those frowns got turned upside down I know mine did thanks to who the Cardinals were able to get with the seventh overall pick when they drafted middle infielder JJ weather hold from West Virginia University now I say middle and fielders since technically he was a short stop in college but many think that second base is where he’s going to end up playing and where he should end up playing in pro baseball eventually although I I read that the Cardinals do plan to start him at shortstop uh in his pro career uh the Cardinals haven’t had a pick this high in the draft since 1998 I mean that is a long time ago they’ve been a very successful franchise so the more you win the lower your draft pick is uh this year of course we had the MLB draft lottery and instead of getting an even higher pick due to the poor record that the Cardinal had in 2023 which I think would have had him at the sixth worst record in Major League Baseball so they would had the sixth pick um this year other teams Leap Frog them so teams like the Guardians end up going number one despite winning 76 games the Reds get the number two pick despite winning 82 games last year so it kind of sucked for the Cardinals because you know when you finally do have a bad year you’re hoping to at least reap the benefits of that but still they were right around where they normally would have picked anyway but a little bit of annoying right to see somebody in your own division get the number two pick even though they won 82 games so anyway coming into the draft I was kind of hoping my my my thought was that you know it’d be nice to get a get a pitcher considering pitching is so tough to get and I I kind of had my heart set on left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith from Alabama dude had just sick strikeout capability reminds me a lot of Josh ader but he ends up going number five to the white socks the other pitcher that fans were hoping would fall a guy that you know if he had been there would have been somebody I would have thought about was Wake Forest Chase Burns but guess who snags him at number two overall the Cincinnati Reds Travis bazana goes to the Guardians at number one that that pick made sense first second baseman ever to go number one overall in the MLB draft Australian by the way if you heard him talk you’re like oh whoa wait yeah a Australian um Charlie Condon who many believe was the best like Superstar capable athlete uh goes to the Rockies at number three that made sense the A’s take Wake Forest first baseman Nick CTS which did surprise some people a little bit but apparently they loved him right away so uh then at number six the Royals could either go with JJ weatherholt or Florida’s Jack K kagon and um he kept falling you know and he was was a guy that we were all kind of like whoa if if KAG Leon is there do the Cardinal think about that but the Royals end up taking the two-way star who pitches also plays first base has this Elite power so there you are at number seven and weather Hol Falls right into the laps of the Cardinals and there’s really no need to whine about this and I don’t want it to come off that that’s what I’m doing um I just didn’t expect him to be there I didn’t expect expect KAG Leon to be there at number seven uh I thought it was going to be somebody else that fell not weather Holt because this is a guy who coming into the season was projected by many Publications to be the number one overall draft prospect in fact the last mock draft that MLB pipeline did actually had the Guardians taking him number one overall uh quotes from that article The Guardian strategy appears to be maximizing the value of their entire draft class and weather Holt is the top talent who would accept the largest signing bonus discount you’re going to hear a bit about Paul sk’s $9.2 million bonus as it pertains to these top two picks uh the first is the general Buzz that Cleveland may not want to go above that with whomever it takes that still leaves Travis bazana very much in the mix but weather Holt offers an option very close in skill while also allowing the Guardians to be even more aggressive later in the draft now with the MLB draft certain players for those who aren’t familiar guys will rise and fall due to signing concerns about money about their commitments to college if uh you know they’re a high school player but when it when it comes to the talent on the field many experts believe that weatherholt was right there along with the number one over number one overall selection bazana um I I would argue that the only guy that maybe people thought was better than everybody else is Charlie Condon but he was the guy that you know they’re they’re like it’s going to be expensive to sign this dude uh he’s he’s you know that that crazy level of talent where it might be rough it might not be an easy negotiation so um I it’s kind of wild to me that weather Hol was able to fall to the Cardinals at number seven you know the stats back that up that he’s right up there with bizana especially during his soft year in 2023 when the guy was arguably the best hitter in all of college baseball on getting taken by the Cardinals JJ said I had a really great meeting with them they brought a lot of people into talk great conversations I really wasn’t too sure at the end of the day where I would go but we found out it was the Cardinals and I couldn’t be happier it’s a baseball city they’re winners and I’m super excited to join the family so the question is all right so if he’s so good if he’s such a good guy and the money wasn’t the issue why the hell did he drop to number seven I’ll explain that to you coming up next on lockon Cardinals this episode of Lockton Cardinals is brought to you by booking.com booking doy with Summer travel heating up especially travel for baseball games it’s time to explore those US cities you always secretly wanted to learn more about and yes we’re even talking about your rival cities places like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh okay you may not like their teams but you got to admit Cincinnati and Pittsburgh got some pretty cool setups with the hotels and the restaurants right there on the riverfront good places to go um Chicago obviously a whole lot of fun huge City dozens and dozens of places by Wrigley and Wrigleyville that you can stay at and booking.com has got you covered with hotels bed and breakfast vacation rentals Resorts and so much more booking.com you might just find your perfect stay even in your baseball rival City booking.com has so many choices across the US for your summer travel this MLB season and let’s not forget about the little league tournaments you’re going to be in different SE in cities with the uh with the little kids throughout the year making sure they’re in all the uh the fun tournaments and uh booking.com has got you covered there as well can get you placed in every city uh around the country they’ll take care of you the right State can make you a fan of any US city even your rival so book today on booking.com on the site or in the booking.com app get supplies from the site that’s made for the skilled trade supplyhouse.com supplyhouse.com is the reliable way to order Plumbing HVAC and electrical products online they’re easy to use website is packed with helpful resources and the latest product information to help you get the job done right shop a complete inventory of over 200,000 parts from over 400 top brands and get your order delivered right to your door with fast shipping from coast to coast need help with an order get expert support and Industry leading service from the friendliest folks in the business and talk to a real person every time I am huge on that nothing drives me more Bonkers except for striking out with nobody out and runners in scoring position uh then when you try to get help with a company and they’ve got you just pressing buttons trying to find what you need I just want to talk to a human let me do that and you can do that here with supply house pros and the skilled trades can get a Competitive Edge by joining supplyhouse.com free trademaster program every trademaster gets access to a dedicated phone line you get free shipping and discounts on every order so join the thousands of trade Pros already benefiting from their free membership at supplyhouse.com sltm in order plumbing hbac and electrical supplies from anywhere with just a few clicks at supplyhouse.com are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day and have to turn down the volume because of all the shouting then make the switch to lock on sports today it’s a free 247 sports streaming Channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all of the screaming locked on sports today brings you can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app it’s part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day thank you for making locktown Cardinals your first listen every day you can leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter X anytime you want always love the feedback good and bad it’s always welcome and encouraged so JJ weatherholt age 20 back in 2023 an absolutely absurd season at West Virginia the numbers are just mindboggling he slashes 449 has a 517 on base percentage 787 slugging 1.34 Ops he wins the Division One NCAA batting title he smashes 16 home runs 24 doubles has 60 ribbies 67 runs scored steals 36 bases and he does all of that in 55 games like just ridiculous numbers Beyond video game numbers like that is just nuts so there was a ton of hype coming into this season about him like I said lots of places had him ranked number one overall a lot of places had him that number two um sky was kind of the limit of what he was going to do in 2024 until an injury derailed things on Monday February 19th just four games into the season and weather hold exits the second game of the Mountaineers double header with a hamstring injury I think they were playing Stetson if I remember and this would knock him out of action for almost two months he doesn’t come back so he leaves February 19th last game he plays he doesn’t come back playing until April the 5th so when you look at the numbers this past year compared to his numbers in 2023 obviously you’re going to see a significant drop off because a lot less at bats a lot less games played this year his junior year he slashes 331 472 OBP 589 slugging Ops 1.06 one nothing to sneeze at but not quite the level where he was in 2023 he ends up hitting eight home runs he drives in 30 scores 30 runs steals just eight bases and only is able to play in 36 games now the batting average dips a lot but the eight home runs is not far off his Pace from the previous year same thing with the runs and the rbi’s they’re right there all close to what he did the year before when he was considered arguably the best hitter in college baseball the stolen bases they drop off obviously due to the leg injury they’re not trying to push it so uh that makes a lot of sense but it’s not like he he just went into the tank all of a sudden and became a just some crappy average hitter or something the tools are still there but the injury clearly had an impact on his stats and his draft stock uh another positive thing that we can take away from this is you know when I’m looking at the stats is ability to walk and not strike out that much fans of the show know my everydays that I do not like strikeouts it drives me nuts uh last year reached Bas 77 times in 36 games he played last year um what was it 36 games total so uh strikeouts let me clarify 140 G so last year 36 games reaches base 77 times in his career 82 strikeouts 82 walks in 140 games played but a lot of those strikeouts actually came in his freshman season when he whiffed 43 times you know brand new coming up to the college level strikes out a little bit sophomore year he walked 26 times and struck out 22 times then last season in over a 100 less plate appearances mind you he walks more he walks 30 times and Strikes Out 17 so for my every dayers again you know how big I am on contact putting the ball in play is something that I cherish out of ball players I mean how many times do you watch Cardinals game first and third nobody out strike out second and third one out strike out like it’s very frustrating so JJ is someone that is clearly right up my alley the kind of the kind of hitter that I’m into uh in an article from Derrik G at stltoday.com JJ talked about the injury that he suffered uh this past season saying that it was a challenge um it was the most time I spent away from baseball being injured it was an opportunity for me to learn I was just sharper mentally I went with the flow of things better I had to grind coming back my timing was thrown off haven’t played ball in a while you have to put all that away you’ve got to put away how you feel how your body feels how your brain feels and you’ve just got to go out there and play and compete I think I became a tougher player because of it and another thing that I like about this guy is how mature he sounds for his age you know I’m watching the uh the the coverage last night of the MLB draft and I’m seeing him do the the interviews with the MLB Network sounded great very mature there good you know laughing a little bit but clearly a good head on his shoulders uh in Clips I’ve seen online during his time in college and press conferences and stuff he just seems like a smart kid and he seems like uh a kid that you know people are going to like but he’s not some you know over-the-top colorful character you know anyone who is really good at something is always going to have a little bit of arrogance and Cockiness I think that’s a good thing but it doesn’t feel like he’s over the top with uh what he thinks about himself he certainly believes in himself he has confidence in himself and in his abilities which which is huge you know one of the things that I think bothers Dylan Carlson and Nolan Gorman at times like is the confidence factor I feel like they they get down on themselves and it affects how they play on the field but JJ weather Holt’s got what I would consider in in just the small clips that I’ve seen and stuff in the interviews that he’s got he’s got kind of a quiet demeanor about himself it’s confident but it’s a quiet demeanor and he just seems like the kind of guy that fits right into the type of players that the Cardinals normally surround themselves with in their clubhous he’s also got a playful side if you if you saw anything about the I wish I had a picture of it if you saw uh the the draft last night he ended up going to the draft one of the few players from the first round that did that and he wore a Texas inspired outfit to the event he had a cowboy hat on had one of those bolo ties on it was pretty funny and they they asked him they’re like is this like a normal get up and he’s like no absolutely not he goes I just you know I’m in Texas I’m in Fort Worth I figured I I dress up for the occasion so um I like that I like that he’s got a a playful attitude when it comes to stuff like that I mean we know how our Cardinals like to dress up did you see the Fourth of July outfits that some of them were wearing so I I like what I like The Vibes that I’m getting from them you know and he and he just seems like a a cardinal type of player on and off the field and would you believe that he had a premonition of sorts about becoming a St Louis Cardinal I’ll have that story for you coming up next on locked on Cardinals going to baseball games in St Louis it’s a tradition even if the team is losing which they haven’t been doing a whole lot of recently uh you want to make that track to Ballpark Village and then Bush Stadium to cheer on the Cardinals my grandmother is going to turn 99 in a couple of weeks from now and the whole family is getting together we’re going to sit out there in uh freeze landing and have a good old time it’s something that we’re kind of making it an annual thing for my grandmother’s birthday we all go to the Cardinal game together and when you need tickets to the game for whatever occasion it may be look no further than the game time app game time is an authorized ticket Marketplace of Major League Baseball which makes getting tickets faster and easier prices on the game time app they actually go down the closer you get to first pitch they’ve got killer last minute deals they’ve got the all-in prices you get views from your seat which is huge because I want to know exactly what the heck’s going to be in front of me when I pick my seat out and they’ve got their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guesswork out of buying major league baseball tickets and it’s not just baseball they can do this for all sorts of events that you would be interested in so um make sure that you’re checking them out for any event that’s going to be going on in the area near you save up to 60% off buying last minute for sports concerts comedy theater and a whole lot more take the guest workk out of buying MLB tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use the code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase again create an account and redeem code locked on MLB that’s spelled l c Ked o n MLB for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed lockon has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube and now it’s also available on the Amazon Fire TV in the freefire TV channels app locked on sports today it’s here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with our local Experts of lockon plus our national shows covering every League you can find locked on sports today now available on the freef Fire TV channels app uh once again you can find the article that I’m referring to uh from Derek gold at stltoday.com I’ll put it a link to it in the description and show notes but I thought this was kind of a kind of a wild story and wanted to to share it with you uh according to Gold’s article a few weeks ago uh weather Hol woke up he he was taking a nap woke up and had a vision there was a there was a name in his head that he couldn’t escape it was a name of a team that he was like they’re going to draft me aren’t they and he text as adviser I think I’m going to be a cardinal now I am a believer in God I believe in Supernatural stuff I I have experienced Deja Vu I believe in ghosts I believe in aliens I do not believe the World is Flat though I I don’t go that far but I I’ve known people who have had you know Visions who have had paranormal experiences and I believe that sometimes the universe speaks to us all in some way shape or form and perhaps that’s what happened with JJ here and his premonition of becoming a St Louis Cardinal now if the universe has a plan and it was for JJ and the Cardinals to come together and win some championships then who am I to question it right I mean that’s good news but I definitely believe the Cardinals were were very fortunate to land a player who appears to me once to be a cardinal and was arguably the most talented player available not only number seven where the Cardinals pick but perhaps in the entire draft I mean take away the injury from what happened this past year and just look what he did that sophomore season I mean that’s a five tool guy he’s got it all he can do it anything you want now the only thing that I’ve heard that’s kind of a knock is that maybe he won’t have the power at the major league level doesn’t have the strongest arm in the world so that’s why second base seems to make a whole lot of sense but he seems like a special player and it looks like the Cardinals feel the same way according to an interview with Cardinals assistant GM and uh director of scouting Randy Flores when they found out that you know Wester Hol was there and he was going to be the draft pick he said we were very very excited if you were to look back and see our draft room discussions from our baseball Development Group to our mental skills group who was present at our combined interviews to our Scouts who saw him as an underclassman or area Scouts who have known him for years if you get any chance to listen to How JJ presents himself in his journey you realize that this is a special young man as far as the immediate future goes Flores said JJ is ready to begin playing and we’re ready to start his onboarding process we like the steps he’s taken to meet the riggers of the game he takes what’s given to him he plays up the middle is athletic has good hands speed makes good contact JJ knows the zone and has a left-handed swing that does damage he doesn’t Chase and has the ability to impact the ball with a wood bat and can hit it out opposite into the big part of the field now when I was you know going through some research and stuff on things that uh you know MLB comparisons or something that you like to look at and sometimes they’re silly because like of course they’re gonna compare him to somebody who’s like awesome but I saw the name Chase Utley pop up a lot when looking up comparisons of former major league players and Utley was a little bit bigger than than weather Holt is Utley was listed at 61 195 JJ 510 190 but I mean if weatherholt has the career that Utley had six time Allstar four time Silver Slugger won a championship with the Phillies in ‘ 08 I mean boy oh boy would this be a home run selection for the Cardinals I could tell you this much his new card on MLB The Show rakes I could tell you that much because I grabbed him as soon as I got up this morning I was up at 3:30 this morning to uh start my national stuff and I was like I gotta buy this kid he’s finally available because they were you know releasing the cards last night second at bat popped one Dinger ended up being the game-winning Dinger so so very nice pair him up with another former Mountaineer and Victor Scott II who we played with as a freshman kind of good times on the Cardinal theme team so might want to check that out if you uh if you’re still playing ml the show I know football came out today so a lot of people might be making the switch but any let me know what you guys think about the Cardinals number one pick in the comments section below fan scratching your head a little bit I saw some people were worried like well we’ve got Gorman at second base and he’s only 24 I get that Nolan arnado is not gonna be here forever right Nolan Gorman can make the switch over to third you could have Gorman win weather Holt burles could be your infield of the future what do you guys think about that let me know thanks for Mega locked on Cardinal your first listen every day if you haven’t already give us a follow on Twitter X _ cardal and JD Sports Radio please like And subscribe on YouTube that way you can help our Channel and our love for the St Louis Cardinals grow you guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason I’ll see you next time on lockdown cards

– Selecting JJ Wetherholt At #7
– Why Did He Fall?
– Dreaming Of St. Louis
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/professional/mlb/cardinals/steal-of-the-draft-cardinals-pounce-at-no-7-on-collegiate-infielder-jj-wetherholt/article_81ebfb3c-4204-11ef-b831-934750048f1a.html

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSTLCardinals?sid=YouTube

Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnMLB

Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO
Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

SupplyHouse
SupplyHouse.com is the reliable way to get parts fast. Shop for your next plumbing, h-vac, or electrical job and get fast shipping from coast to coast.

Booking.com
The right stay can make you a fan of any US city – even your rival’s. Book today on Booking.com on the site or in the Booking.com app! Booking.com, Booking dot YEAH!

PrizePicks
Go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLB and use code lockedonmlb for a first deposit match up to $100!

eBay Motors
From brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.

FanDuel
FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

#ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals