Cardinals' first-round pick crushes home run in first ever spring training game

Have yourself a debut, JJ Wetherholt!

The St. Louis Cardinals' first-round pick from the 2024 MLB Draft took no time to make noise in big-league camp, as you could tell off the sound it made from his bat that Wetherholt had himself a three-run, opposite-field home run in his first-ever spring training game on Sunday.

JJ Wetherholt is already flashing his prospect pedigree for the Cardinals in spring training

Drafted seventh overall by the Cardinals last summer, Wetherholt is a shortstop prospect out of the University of West Virginia and was expected by many to go number one overall throughout the draft process. Had it not been for a hamstring injury early in his final college season, there is no way Wetherholt would have been on the board when the Cardinals selected.

Wetherholt had 126 plate appearances last year in his brief taste of minor league action, slashing .295/.405/.400, good for a 137 wRC+ for Single-A Palm Beach. Entering the 2025 season, Wetherholt has been named a top-25 prospect in all of baseball by most scouting outlets, and there is a good chance he will rise up those rankings before he makes his debut.

Wetherholt is a smooth-swinging, left-handed hitter whose plus-plus bat skills paired with above-average power make him one of the most intriguing bats among all prospects. He's already drawn the comparison to a bat like Alex Bregman by Baseball America, and the Cardinals are extremely high on what he could bring to the team long-term.

It's good to note that per Baseball Savant, Wetherholt's home run was 100.6 MPH off of the bat, and while it would not have been a home run in any of the 30 major league ballparks (345ft was its official distance), it had an xBA of .660. Wetherholt does project to have above-average power at the next level though, so don't fret that he's a guy who can't put the ball over the fence.

While the home run was fun to watch, and it's worth watching the video even just to hear the sound off of his bat, don't get too far ahead of yourself with Wetherholt yet. You won't find many people higher on Wetherholt as a prospect than myself, but it is very, very unlikely we see him any time soon in St. Louis. Some have left the door open for a *potential* call-up midseason *if* all goes well, and maybe a brief stint in September would be in the cards. But in all honesty, we are likely looking at a 2026 debut for Wetherholt, as the Cardinals do not need to rush this for him.

With that being said, I won't rule out anything when it comes to Wetherholt. I don't think it is fair at all for us to put expectations on him to be a major leaguer this year, but he really is a different level of prospect entering the Cardinals system than they've had in quite some time. The Cardinals had not selected in the top 10 of an MLB Draft since 1998, and they'll now draft in the top 5 this year for the first time since then as well.