photo: J.J. Wetherholt (University of West Virginia)
The St. Louis Cardinals named their lone selection on Day 1 of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, encompassing the first two rounds. Reactions from first rounder J.J. Wetherholt and scouting director Randy Flores follow.
The first two rounds of the 20-round 2024 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft were held on Sunday evening, July 14 in Arlington, Texas. For the fourth year, the draft is reduced to 20 rounds and held a month later than traditionally, now as part of MLB’s All-Star Weekend.
By virtue of their dismal 2023 season, the St. Louis Cardinals received the seventh overall selection in the first round via the lottery. It is their earliest selection since they took J.D. Drew fifth in 1997.
However, for the second consecutive year, the Cardinals forfeited their second rounder (which would have been no. 42 with associated pool money of $2,224,700) plus the loss of $500,000 international cap space for the signing free agent Sonny Gray during the off-season.
In compensation, Gray’s former club, the Minnesota Twins, received the 33rd overall selection. This comp pick, at the end of the first round, has an associated slot bonus of $2,766,100.
As a result, St. Louis has just one selection in the first 79 picks in this draft, their only Sunday night pick. (Their third rounder will be no. 80 overall.) In contrast, the Diamondbacks, Brewers and Twins each have four picks on Sunday alone, all to be made before the Cardinals can take their second player.
The Cardinals organization’s eight picks in the third through 10th rounds will be made on Monday, starting at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. The final 10 selections (rounds 11-20) will be unveiled starting at 2:00 p.m. ET Tuesday. Both days’ proceedings will be streamed live by MLB.com.
The Cardinals have been assigned a pool total of $10,213,000 to cover the signing bonuses for their nine players selected in the first 10 rounds plus any bonuses greater than $150,000 for draftees selected in rounds 11-20. Due to the loss of the second-round allocation, St. Louis’ total is just 17th of the 30 teams in 2024.
To reference the Cardinals’ new draft class on an ongoing basis here at The Cardinal Nation, each player will have a profile located on a holding team called “DRAFT UNSIGNED PLAYERS”. This can be accessed at the bottom of the drop-down menu in the red column in the left menu called “ROSTERS/PLAYERS/MOVES” or click here.
St. Louis’ selection – 2024 draft day 1
First round, seventh overall – J.J. Wetherholt, SS/2B
University of West Virginia
5’10, 190 pounds
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Hometown: Mars, PA
The Cardinals had to be absolutely delighted when one of the top players, if not the top player, in the draft was still available when their first pick came up.
Coming into the draft, Wetherholt was ranked as the number one eligible prospect according to Fangraphs, third per Baseball America and The Athletic and fourth at MLB Pipeline.
Baseball America’s most recent mock draft had Wetherholt going to the Cleveland Guardians as the number one pick. Recurring hamstring issues that caused him to miss 24 of 60 games and play often as designated hitter in 2024 may have contributed to Wetherholt’s falling to the Cardinals at number seven.
The left-handed hitter is known for his ability to drive balls to all fields with authority and demonstrating excellent pitch recognition.
The 22-year-old’s bat to ball skills are evidenced by his NCAA-leading .449 batting average in 2023. That dropped to “just” .331 in 2024. Wetherholt is a base-stealing threat with his 36 stolen bases tops in the Big 12 in 2023, when the then-sophomore was the conference Player of the Year.
Wetherholt, a Pittsburgh-area native, played three seasons for the Mountaineers, slashing .370/.468/.625/1.093 with 29 home runs, 49 doubles, 129 RBI, 148 runs and a 1:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 82 walks in 145 career games.
TC Calhoun was the Cardinals area drafting scout.
The pool amount for this pick is $6,823,700.
Randy Flores comments
Cardinals assistant general manager/director of scouting Randy Flores spoke with the media via Zoom shortly after the selection was made Sunday evening. As one would expect, he said the organization is “very, very excited” to land Wetherholt.
“Looking at his batting line and the back of the baseball card is that he’s hit and he’s always hit,” Flores said. “What was impressive to our scouting group this summer was that he did it against the best competition and he did it while nursing some soreness.
“Often times in this day and age, it’s natural that players only want to play when they are 100 percent. But even though he was limited physically this summer, he was taking at bats and DHing.
“All indications are that he is ready to go and start playing,” Flores said. The scouting director declared that Wetherholt will begin his professional career at shortstop, but also emphasized that the organization values his versatility.
I asked Wetherholt if he had any indications that he might be asked to play less in the field initially and more at designated hitter in 2024 given the long college season and his earlier injuries. He replied that he has no knowledge of that yet, but earlier said, “My hamstring is good. I’m really healthy now.”
First pick comments
Wetherholt, a 2022 WVU teammate of Memphis outfielder Victor Scott, offered his opening remarks as a Cardinal on Sunday evening, via Zoom as well.
“I am super blessed and super excited to be a Cardinal and I can’t wait to get started,” he said.
“It’s a baseball city, they’re winners and I’m super excited to join the family,” Wetherholt said. “I know that they’ve got a great staff and a great farm system, and I know that they’re going to make me a better player. So, I’m as super excited to go there as they are to have me.”
His full media comments follow. (Note the Q&A begins about 2:00 minutes in, so skip ahead.)
@Cardinals let’s go!!!!
— JJ Wetherholt (@jj_wetherholt) July 15, 2024
What is next?
Check back at The Cardinal Nation for details of Days 2 and 3 of the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
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