JJ Wetherholt joins legendary Cardinals company with leadoff home run against Pirates

St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt has had a superb start to his rookie campaign. Through 31 games, Wetherholt has a .259/.376/.483/.859 slash line, seven home runs, 16 runs batted in, and four stolen bases. He's walked 16 times and struck out 25 times. Offensively, there has been virtually nothing to complain about.

For as good as he's been offensively, he's been just as reliable on the defensive end. He's recorded one Defensive Run Saved (DRS) and he's been worth plus-four Outs Above Average (OAA). He's tied for the second-most OAA among all second basemen.

JJ is a player who will hopefully be in the Cardinal record books, and he's already starting to join some elite company with his early-season production.

St. Louis Cardinals rookie JJ Wetherholt joins Albert Pujols and Enos Slaughter with his extra-base hit streak.

When JJ launched a leadoff home run against the reigning National League Cy Young Award Winner Paul Skenes on Thursday afternoon, he joined elite Cardinals company.

According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, the 23-year-old's home run extended his extra-base hit streak to six games. He became the youngest Cardinal with such a streak since Albert Pujols in 2003.

Should Wetherholt hit another extra-base hit on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he would tie Albert Pujols (2001) and Enos Slaughter (1938) for the longest extra-base hit streak by a Cardinals player 23 or younger since 1900. Another extra-base hit on Saturday would give him sole possession of this recognition.

Slaughter is a Hall of Famer, and Pujols is well on his way to joining Enos in Cooperstown. I don't mean to be hyperbolic here, but it's very rare to see a rookie repeat Hall of Fame-level success.

During this six-game streak, Wetherholt has a .897 slugging percentage, four home runs, and five RBIs. He also has three doubles, including two on Wednesday night.

Wetherholt is also setting records by getting hit by pitches.

JJ's early-season output has given both the Cardinals and their fans hope that he's the real deal. After several years of highly ranked prospects falling flat at the major-league level, there are plenty of reasons to believe that Wetherholt's output is legitimate.

Wetherholt has been at the center of extension talks since the beginning of the season. Peers of his such as Konnor Griffin, Kevin McGonigle, and Colt Emerson all received multi-year extensions. With each passing day, Wetherholt's price tag rises should a deal be struck between the potential Rookie of the Year and the Cardinals.

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