Cardinals rookie JJ Wetherholt gets put in his place by umpire, announcer

JJ Wetherholt has been everything St. Louis Cardinals fans wanted and them some. From the mature approach at the plate, the surprising power, the elite defense, and swagger, the rookie has passed every test thrown his direction and is contending for the NL Rookie of the Year. We should not be surprised about his hitting tool, as Wetherholt was seen as one of the best hitters in the 2024 draft class, if not the best, and has put his talent on full display in his first season in the bigs. He might be getting an advantage that is technically against baseball rules... and is relatively unsafe. During yesterday's series finale against the nomadic A's, the television broadcast showed JJ Wetherholt making his own on-deck circle merely 15-20 feet from the batter's box, which drew ire from broadcaster Dallas Braden.

JJ Wetherholt was getting an advantave and putting himself in harms way

Even though the A's are playing in a minor league stadium, the rules for an on-deck batter are pretty straightforward, with the guidelines being 37 feet to the side and behind home plate. Like base coaches do with their designated boxes, we have seen plenty of hitters take liberty with their practice swings inching closer to home plate to get a better view of the pitcher. Wetherholt, however, took it too far for both Braden and first base umpire Bill Miller. During the ninth inning of the Cardinals' comeback, Wetherholt can be seen just out of frame while Victor Scott II was taking his at-bat. The A's announcer had seen enough at that point, saying Wetherholt was basically standing in the batter's box and has pretty much received eight at-bats because of how close he was to the plate. Braden eventually got his way, as the first base ump finally told Wetherholt it was time to move into the designated warmup slot.

Spoiler alert: Wetherholt was hit by a pitch when he was actually in the batter's box, setting up the ferocious comeback to give the Cardinals a series win. JJ is obviously not scared of the ball, setting a franchise record for most games hit by a pitch in a row, and has now been hit 10 times in just 43 games.

While there was nothing malicious in JJ's intent of getting a better view of the pitcher, the practice swings being that close does carry some risk. Since Scott is a lefty, Wetherholt was a little more protected, but on-deck batters have minimal time to react in the case of a foul ball. Unfortunately, the Cardinals are familiar with that situation in 2007 when Juan Encarnacion was hit in the eye by a line drive off the bat of his teammate and suffered career-ending vision loss that could have ended much worse.

JJ Wetherholt has not just become the face of the rebuild, but is the building block for the next great Cardinals team. His on-field performance, competitive demeanor, and high IQ have been on full display since the moment he was promoted to the majors. But next game, we will probably see him a little closer to the dugout.

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