Cardinals’ JJ Wetherholt sets bizarre franchise record in painful fashion

If you told St. Louis Cardinals fans before the season that JJ Wetherholt would be breaking a team record this early in the season, they'd probably wonder if they should be throwing a party for the coronation of a star or worrying about how bad things started for him. Instead, this has to be one of the most obscure records he could possibly hold, as Wetherholt has now been hit by a pitch in five straight games, the most in Cardinals history.

Yes, you read that right. Wetherholt just passed former Cardinals outfielder and current coach on Oliver Marmol's staff, Jon Jay, or the team record. Outside of a bunch of bruises, I'm not sure if they give out trophies for that, but it's a unique factoid for Wetherholt's baseball card moving forward, and it falls right in line with one of his best traits as a rookie so far.

Wetherholt's glove has been the talk of town early in the season, and while he no longer leads baseball in outs above average, he's still playing plus defense at second base. But what has gone a bit under the radar so far but reveals just how special a talent he could be, is the fact that Wetherholt has found a way to get on base frequently, despite not having great success so far on his batted balls.

JJ Wetherholt has been an on-base machine for the Cardinals

Wetherholt has managed to reach base for the Cardinals in 20 of his 21 starts this season, helping Wetherholt put up a .384 on-base percentage, 26th-best among the 179 qualified hitters in baseball this season.

That is especially impressive when you look at Wetherholt's .234 batting average, which is tied for 108th-best among those qualified hitters. Wetherholt hasn't found his groove yet with the bat, pulling a ton of ground balls and lacking that opposite field stroke that made him so deadly at West Virginia and in the minor leagues. I have no doubt that it will come, which is why I find his ability to constantly get on base while he isn't swinging a hot bat all the more impressive.

Typically, when a rookie is struggling to muster base hits, it can spell major trouble for the youngster at the plate. Few first-time Major Leaguers carry the kind of approach and feel for the strike zone that Wetherholt does, which is part of what made him such an exciting prospect. Because of that, Wetherholt has been able to be a positive at the top of the lineup while he figures out how to get his bat going.

Hopefully for Wetherholt, he can start reaching base more because of singles, doubles, triples, and roundtrippers, or at least can just draw walks on the traditional four balls rather than constantly wearing those misses. But hey, I don't think he's complaining about seeing that OBP rise as the games go on. And when he does start to hit, it's hard to imagine him not being a strong favorite for National League Rookie of the Year.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow