When it comes to JJ Wetherholt’s offense, there aren’t many questions about MLB Pipeline’s No. 6 prospect.
After all, he’s batting .295 over 25 games since the St. Louis Cardinals promoted him to Triple-A on July 7. Oh, and he just homered for the ninth time tonight as a Memphis Redbird in a win over Triple-A Charlotte.
But when it comes to his defensive play, there is much more uncertainty. Wetherholt made 17 starts at second base (46 assists, zero errors) and 36 starts (89 assists, six errors) at shortstop for Double-A Springfield earlier this season. At Triple-A, he continued to play shortstop with 14 starts (28 assists, two errors) but has recently found time at third, where he’s made five starts (11 assists, one error).
His time at the hot corner could be important, as third baseman Nolan Arenado has missed the past two weeks with the big league club because of a right shoulder strain. But Wetherholt says he’s still a work in progress on the defensive end, per MLB.com’s John Denton.
“I haven’t played [third] since my freshman year in college, so it’s going to take a little bit to get back to the swing of it there,” he said, per Denton. “I’ve been working there for the past probably four or five weeks. I don’t know entirely what the goal is, but I think we’re probably going to be about two games a week [at third] from here on out. I’m getting more comfortable as the game goes. I’m definitely going to need a bunch of in-game reps.”
Wetherholt is definitely more experienced at second base and shortstop than third, but he’s not worried about what position he’ll play in the majors because of his confidence in his ability to learn any spot on the baseball diamond.
“I definitely have the tool set to be able to play all of it,” he said. “I don’t know entirely where I would project out [position-wise in MLB], but I’m pretty confident in my defensive abilities and think I could honestly play anywhere.”
