This overlooked part of JJ Wetherholt's game is wowing the St. Louis Cardinals

JJ Wetherholt was primarily advertised for having a very exciting bat that was capable of playing at the top of a championship caliber lineup. Well, the St. Louis Cardinals are now seeing first hand that his glove may be just as good.

It's not that anyone thought that Wetherholt wouldn't be a good defender, but in just the first 17 games of his big league career, Wetherholt is already tied for first in all of baseball in outs above average with five and is looking like a Gold Glove-level defender at second base. I love the fun nickname that @Jskip7 gave him over on X of JJ Leatherholt.

Wetherholt played most of his minor league games at shortstop, but he settled in as the Cardinals' starting second baseman with the presence of 2025 Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn up the middle. Wetherholt was graded out by most scouting outlets as an above-average defender (a 55-grade was typically given), but he's been flashing his glove in elite ways thus far.

Diving catches, lunging in front of surefire hits, turning double plays, Wetherholt has done it all thus far, but his "signature" move right now seems to be those leaping grabs that have you seeing "MJ" instead of JJ, and he's seemingly swiping away line drive hits to the outfield grass away from opposing hitters on a weekly basis.

If JJ Wetherholt turns out to be an elite defender, his ceiling just went up a notch

As a prospect, Wetherholt's bat was what we were all talking about. His incredible hit tool, superhuman-like feel for the strike zone and swing decisions, and sneaky power that he continues to find ways to get to more and more, give him the upside to be a very valuable offensive player for a long time. But if this defense is real, we might be talking about a WAR monster on our hands.

Think for a second about guys like Nico Hoerner and Tommy Edman. Hoerner has consistently put up 3.8-4.8 fWAR seasons while never posting a wRC+ above 109 in any of those seasons. In 2022, Edman was worth 5.4 fWAR for the Cardinals as their primary second baseman because of his elite glove and 106 wRC+ bat.

When you look at Wetherholt, we are talking about a guy who has managed to put up a 109 wRC+ on the season despite not actually "hitting" all that well for most of the season. Aside from an incredible opening series and last night's two home run performance, Wetherholt has been struggling to get hits to fall, but his elite feel at the plate has allowed him to put together great at-bats and continue to draw walks even while he is in a "slump". Wetherholt has managed to reach base via a walk or a hit in 15 of his 16 starts this year.

And unlike other Cardinals from the past, his "slump" still sees him as an above-average hitter on the season, and once he starts hitting consistently, that wRC+ can jump up. And if he's producing 15%-20% above league average at the plate or better with this kind of defense? That's a great ballplayer, and he could be well on his way to the National League Rookie of the Year award.

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