Cardinals phenom JJ Wetherholt chasing MLB rookie history with absurd pace

To say JJ Wetherholt's rookie year has been a major success so far would be an understatement, and the St. Louis Cardinals second baseman is currently on pace to do something that few rookies in baseball history can say they've accomplished.

On the season, Wetherholt is slashing .239/.357/.413, and is on pace for 30 home runs, 16 doubles, 79 RBI, 115 runs scored, and 20 stolen bases. Those are just incredible numbers for any rookie to put up, and I'm sure you noticed that puts him on pace for a 30/20 season in just year one of his career.

If Wetherholt keeps up that pace, he would become the 18th rookie in MLB history to post a 20/20 season, and just the third player ever to post a 30/20 season, joining Nomar Garciaparra, Chris Young, and Mike Trout.

I mean, come on, that's some incredible company to be holding. Those who followed Wetherholt as a prospect knew he had more power than many gave him credit for, and he had enough speed to do damage on the base paths, but I don't think anyone was predicting he could put himself in 30/20 company, and 20/20 was surely a best-case scenario outcome.

Those who were high on Wetherholt coming into this season saw the potential for him to be a high on-base, high batting average guy who hit for a ton of doubles and mixed in the home runs and stolen bases as he could. But so far, Wetherholt has exceeded expectations in both of those departments, showing that he could be a truly incredible offensive force once he starts firing on all cylinders.

JJ Wetherholt is on a historic pace and still isn't even playing like his best self

Wetherholt has been about as impactful at the plate as you could ask for, and yet, you could argue that he's not even performing like we know he can yet.

He's produced a .770 OPS through his first 48 big league games, and there have been significant stretches where Wetherholt seems like he can't buy a hit. He's done a phenomenal job of still reaching base at a super high clip and doing damage on those mistake pitches to bring a ton of value to the Cardinals' lineup.

But when Wetherholt is at his best, he's a guy who sprays the ball to all fields, constantly putting pressure on opposing pitchers when they come into the zone and taking his walks when given to him. So far, he's done the latter extremely well, but he's still searching for that same level of impact when he's swinging the bat that we know he can produce.

Lately, Wetherholt has begun hitting the ball to all fields at a much better clip, and if he continues to do that, he'll be able to put up even better numbers than he has right now. Wetherholt is much better than a .239 hitter at the plate, and having only five doubles thus far feels extremely low.

What a start this has been for Wetherholt so far, and if he continues this high-level production at the plate, paired with his top-notch defense thus far, he'll be hard to top for National League Rookie of the Year.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow