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Jonathan David “JJ” Wetherholt (born September 10, 2002) is an American professional baseball infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2024 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2026.

Amateur career

Wetherholt attended Mars Area High School in Mars, Pennsylvania.[1] He went undrafted in the 2021 Major League Baseball draft and enrolled at West Virginia University to play college baseball for the Mountaineers.

As a freshman at West Virginia in 2022, Wetherholt played in 54 games (making 53 starts) and hit .308 with five home runs, 39 RBIs, 17 doubles, and 15 stolen bases.[2][3] That summer, he briefly played in the Northwoods League for the Madison Mallards with whom he batted .368 over 12 games.[4]

As a sophomore in 2023, Wetherholt garnered national attention.[5][6][7] He played in 55 games and batted .449 with 16 home runs, sixty RBIs, and 36 stolen bases.[8] He was named one of five finalists for the Dick Howser Trophy.[9][10] He was also named the Big 12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year.[11][12][13] Following the 2023 season, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[14][15] He also played for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.[16] Wetherholt injured his hamstring four games into the 2024 season, and missed over a month.[17][18] Over 36 games, he batted .331 with eight home runs and thirty RBIs.[19]

Legend
  GP  Games played  AB  At Bats  R  Runs
 H  Hits  HR  Home runs  RBI  Runs batted in
 BB  Base on balls (walks)  SB  Stolen bases  AVG.  Batting average
 OBP.  On-base %  SLG.  Slugging %  OPS  On-base plus slugging
College statistics at West Virginia University[20]
Year School AB GP R H 2B HR SLG. RBI AVG. SO OBP. SB
2022 West Virginia 208 54 53 64 17 5 .471 39 .308 43 .411 15
2023 West Virginia 225 55 67 101 24 16 .787 60 .449 22 .517 36
2024 West Virginia 124 36 30 41 8 8 .589 30 .331 17 .472 6
Total 557 145 148 206 49 29 .625 129 .370 82 .467 57

Professional career

JJ Wetherholt of the 2026 Cardinals

Wetherholt was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round with the seventh overall pick of the 2024 Major League Baseball draft.[21] On July 20, 2024, Wetherholt signed with the Cardinals on a $6.8 million contract.[22]

Three days after signing his professional contract with the Cardinals, Wetherholt was assigned to the rookie-league Florida Complex League Cardinals roster on July 23. He was quickly promoted to Single-A Palm Beach Cardinals of the Florida State League on July 30, with whom he played the remainder of the season.[23] During the final week of the 2024 regular season, Wetherholt was named the Florida State League player of the week from September 2–9.[24] Wetherholt was also a key contributor in the subsequent playoff rounds, highlighted by a two-run triple in the seventh inning of the decisive championship game to help Palm Beach win their first Florida State league title since 2017.[25] Over 29 games for the season, Wetherholt hit .295 with two home runs and twenty RBI.

Wetherholt was assigned to the Double-A Springfield Cardinals of the Texas League to open the 2025 season.[26] He was selected to represent the Cardinals at the 2025 All-Star Futures Game at Truist Park.[27] On July 8, 2025, Wetherholt was promoted to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds of the International League.[28] Over 109 games between the two teams, Wetherholt hit .306 with 17 home runs, 59 RBI, 28 doubles, and 23 stolen bases.[29] He was awarded both the 2025 Texas League Most Valuable Player Award and the International League Top MLB Prospect Award.[30][31] The Cardinals also named Wetherholt their Minor League Player of the Year.[32]

JJ Wetherholt’s first Major League hit and home run, March 26, 2026.

On March 23, 2026, the Cardinals announced that Wetherholt had made the team’s Opening Day roster.[33] Two days later, St. Louis formally selected his contract.[34] Wetherholt made his MLB debut on March 26, 2026, during the Cardinals’ season home opener versus the Tampa Bay Rays, where he started at second base and batted in the leadoff spot.[35] He recorded his first MLB hit, a solo home run off of Drew Rasmussen in third inning.[36]. Two days later, on March 28, Wetherholt delivered his first career walk-off hit, a 2-run game-winning single off of Rays pitcher Griffin Jax.

Personal life

Wetherholt’s grandmother is from South Korea, and he stated that he would represent Team South Korea in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.[37] Wetherholt later told reporters that he was not permitted to play for the team as he is “not Korean enough. You need a direct parent to be a citizen […], I think it would really mean a lot to her. But unfortunately, (I) won’t be able to do it.”[38]

References

  1. ^ “College sports notebook: Accolades keep rolling in for Mars grad, West Virginia’s JJ Wetherholt”. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  2. ^ “Wetherholt’s rise to one of the best in WVU history”. May 28, 2023.
  3. ^ “GSA Spotlight: West Virginia’s JJ Wetherholt”. USA Baseball.
  4. ^ “Last season and offseason shape baseball’s new season”. 247Sports.
  5. ^ Writer, Jonathan Hamilton, Staff (April 12, 2023). “WVU’s JJ Wetherholt earning national attention”. The Daily Athenaeum – West Virginia University.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Santa, John (March 31, 2023). “Mars graduate JJ Wetherholt among nation’s best hitters in second season at West Virginia”.
  7. ^ “Mars native JJ Wetherholt checking off boxes for West Virginia baseball”. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  8. ^ MacDonald, Jared (June 6, 2023). “WVU baseball: Mazey says Wetherholt had ‘the best season I’ve ever seen’“. The Herald-Dispatch.
  9. ^ “College baseball: West Virginia’s JJ Wetherholt, a Mars grad, named a Dick Howser Trophy finalist”. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  10. ^ DiPaola, Jerry (June 8, 2023). “Mars graduate JJ Wetherholt of West Virginia named 1 of 5 finalists for Dick Howser Trophy”. TribLIVE.com.
  11. ^ “Digging into the success of JJ Wetherholt”.
  12. ^ “JJ Wetherholt enters NCAAs as more than just a hitter | News, Sports, Jobs – Weirton Daily Times”.
  13. ^ “J.J. Wetherholt awarded Big 12 Player of the Year honors”. May 23, 2023.
  14. ^ “Jonathan Wetherholt – Profile”. pointstreak.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  15. ^ “Wetherholt and Sauve team up in CCBL”. June 17, 2023.
  16. ^ “Wetherholt homers in first start with Team USA”. July 3, 2023.
  17. ^ Lockard, Melissa. “JJ Wetherholt is back atop MLB Draft boards after hamstring rehab saved his season at WVU”. The New York Times.
  18. ^ “Chumley has led Mountaineers, as Wetherholt returns from injury”.
  19. ^ “‘Some guys come along that can single-handedly change the face of an entire program’: Wetherholt’s impact on Mountaineers not lost on Mazey”. June 11, 2024.
  20. ^ “JJ Wetherholt – Baseball”. West Virginia University Athletics. March 17, 2026.
  21. ^ “Cards select WVU standout SS Wetherholt with No. 7 pick”. MLB.com.
  22. ^ “Cardinals Sign First-Round Pick JJ Wetherholt”. mlbtraderumors.com. July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  23. ^ “JJ Wetherholt Transactions – MiLB.com Transactions – The Official Site of Minor League Baseball”. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Terranova, Rob (September 12, 2024). “Minor League Player Spotlight: Cards’ Wetherholt”. MiLB.com. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  25. ^ Berman, Marc (September 19, 2024). “Palm Beach Cardinals capture Florida State League championship, taking 2-of-3 from Lakeland title”. Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  26. ^ Scranton, Lyndal (April 4, 2025). “Top Cardinals prospect JJ Wetherholt ready for Springfield debut”. Springfield Daily Citizen. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  27. ^ “Team-by-team breakdown of every player headed to Futures Game”. MLB.com.
  28. ^ “Cardinals promote top prospect Wetherholt to Triple-A”. MLB.com.
  29. ^ “Cardinals’ JJ Wetherholt Caps Season With Two Hits”. September 21, 2025.
  30. ^ Weinrib, Ben (September 23, 2025). “The 2025 Double-A All-Stars and Award Winners”. Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on September 24, 2025. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  31. ^ Terranova, Rob (September 27, 2025). “The 2025 Triple-A All-Stars and Award Winners”. Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on September 28, 2025. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  32. ^ Denton, John. “On the doorstep of the Majors, Wetherholt eager to take that big step”. MLB.com. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  33. ^ Foster, Jason. “Top Cardinals prospect JJ Wetherholt makes Opening Day roster”. MLB. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  34. ^ “Cardinals Place Lars Nootbaar On 60-Day IL”. mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved March 25, 2026.
  35. ^ Guerrero, Daniel (March 26, 2026). “Looking calm and ‘cool,’ Cardinals top prospect JJ Wetherholt shows off power in debut”. STLtoday.com. Retrieved March 27, 2026.
  36. ^ Schaeffer, Brenden (March 27, 2026). “JJ Wetherholt hits first MLB home run on Opening Day”. MLB.com. Retrieved March 27, 2026.
  37. ^ “Cardinals’ Weatherholt Top 23-Year-Old Prospect, Eyes WBC with South Korea”. The Chosun Daily. November 27, 2025. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  38. ^ Liguori, Conor (January 19, 2026). “Cardinals’ top prospect JJ Wetherholt denied World Baseball Classic opportunity”. Sporting News. Retrieved March 27, 2026.