JJ

Wetherholt

Wetherholt is back at shortstop and leading off after sitting out the front-end of Monday’s twin bill at Great American Ball Park. The 23-year-old rookie sensation has struggled since last month’s All-Star break, hitting just .185 (20-for-108) with three homers and four steals in 29 games during that span. His return pushes electrifying top prospect Joshua Báez back to the fifth spot in the order for the nightcap affair.

Báez, who hit fifth in his first two major league games, figures to return to the middle of the order for the nightcap.

Wetherholt hasn’t had a ton of chances to drive in runs from the leadoff spot, but including Wednesday’s in a 3-1 win over the Yankees, he’s come up with a pair of big two-run doubles in the last five days. The Rookie of the Year candidate is batting .249/.353/.387 with 16 homers and 45 RBI on the season. It’s quite possible we’ll end the year with Wetherholt and Sal Stewart as the NL ROY favorites. Wetherholt could potentially double Stewart’s WAR and Stewart could potentially double Wetherholt’s RBI total.

The Cardinals beat the Yankees 3-1 on Wednesday with all three runs coming in the fifth inning and JJ Wetherholt was in the middle of all of it. Wetherholt’s two-run double off Yankees starter Will Warren gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead before he came around to score on Ivan Herrera’s double to make it 3-0. Wetherholt is hitting .248 with a .739 OPS and 43 RBI on the year.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine day off for the dynamic 23-year-old rookie second baseman who has been a fixture atop the Cardinals’ lineup for nearly every game this season. Jose Fermin will start in his place and will bat seventh against Blue Jays’ right-hander Max Scherzer on Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

The rookie sensation led off the fifth inning with a single off of Javier Assad and swiped second base, but the Cardinals were unable to cash him in from there. He then clobbered a 406-foot (105.2-mph EV) solo shot off of Caleb Thielbar in the seventh that tied the game at 2-2. He’s enjoying an awfully impressive rookie campaign, slashing .253/.349/.396 with 16 long balls, 41 RBI and 12 stolen bases.

Wetherholt’s sixth-inning blast against Angels starter Reid Detmers was the lone run for either side during a low-scoring affair in Los Angeles that featured just 10 hits combined. The 23-year-old has gone deep twice in six games since last week’s All-Star break. He’s putting together a sensational rookie campaign, slashing .257/.352/.403 with 62 runs scored, 15 homers, 40 RBI and 10 steals through 96 games.

Wetherholt, who really ought to have gone to the All-Star Game as a rookie, homered off Merrill Kelly in the fifth and also singled during a ninth-inning rally in which the Cardinals scored the go-ahead run on an Iván Herrera sac fly. He has 14 homers on the season, and he leads all rookies with 59 runs scored.

Wetherholt has been an instant hit for the Cardinals, batting .267/.362/.411 with 13 homers and nine stolen bases as we near the end of the season’s first half. Passan doesn’t put a dollar figure on this, but notes it’s a “nine-figure deal,” while New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported it was a eight-year, $112.5 million contract. Wetherholt should be a long-term building block for the Cardinals, as the former top prospect instantly took over as the Opening Day second baseman and never looked back. He’s currently 12th in FanGraphs’ WAR at 3.6.

Wetherholt takes a seat after playing both games during Tuesday’s doubleheader at Busch Stadium. It’ll be José Fermín at second base with Masyn Winn moving up to the leadoff spot in his place. The 23-year-old rookie sensation is one of the most prominent omissions from next week’s All-Star Game. He’s put together an excellent first half, hitting .263/.358/.405 with 56 runs scored, 13 homers, 36 RBI and nine steals in 391 plate appearances through 86 games.