MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Moments ago, West Virginia star JJÂ Wetherholt was selected #7 overall pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft!
Wetherholt, 21, had a .331 batting average with 8 home runs, 30 runs batted in and 6 stolen bases in an injury-shortened season as a junior this past year as an infielder for the West Virginia Mountaineers.
As a sophomore, Wetherholt was the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and a unanimous First Team All-American, batting .449 with 16 HRs, 60 RBIs and 36 stolen bases.
Meet JJ in St. Louis!@jj_wetherholt has been selected đđ¨. đ overall by the St. Louis Cardinals!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/9DmLWNbk8i
— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) July 14, 2024
Wetherholt, a 5’10 infielder from Mars, Pennsylvania, was selected 7th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals.Â
JJ's ready!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/jUan1wNBTO
— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) July 14, 2024
According to MLB.com’s Dylan Svobada, “Wetherholt is one of the best pure hitters to come through the college ranks in recent history. Wetherholt has the ability to drive the ball to all fields from the left side, and he does so without sacrificing much at all in terms of his bat-to-ball skills. He posted a tiny 10% whiff rate in 2023 with a 26/22 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Wetherholt has improved even further on the latter score, with almost twice as many walks as K’s in 2024.”
âI was always a pretty decent hitter growing up. I was never crazy,â Wetherholt said, via the Weirton Daily Times. âDefense was like my thing. I was really good on defense and I was really fast. I was kind of a contact hitter and Iâd steal and play pretty good defense.â
Wetherholtâs high school coach, Jason Thompson, agreed.
âHe had some of the fastest hands on the baseball field,â Thompson said. âIâve seen only one ball, which took a ridiculously bad bounce, ever get by him. He was the kid you prayed every ball would be hit to. Heâd make every play.â
Former West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey had nothing but wonderful things to say about Wetherholt: “He’s just always been a sponge for learning, wanting to get better,â Mazey said. âYou know, he just values everything you say to him and takes it to heart. He did whatever he could for the benefit of the Mountaineers. And that’s why as a program, we did things that have never been done before â because of his unselfishness.â
Mountaineer nation, how we feeling?!?!
— JJ Wetherholt (@jj_wetherholt) July 14, 2024
