JJ Wetherholt, MLB Pipeline’s No. 6 prospect, continued to torment Triple-A pitchers on Friday when he hit his fifth leadoff home run for the Memphis Redbirds, per MLB.com’s John Denton.
But despite launching eight homers since his Triple-A promotion on July 7, Wetherholt isn’t satisfied with his offensive approach.
“My hitting profile isn’t where the flash is coming from homers,” he said, per Denton. “It’s been great lately, but I need to be more consistent in the barrel and using the whole field. I’m usually good at controlling the left-center gap, and that’s something that has been hit or miss lately. I want to get back to using the whole field and get back to being a threat to the pitchers—not because I might hit a leadoff homer, but because I might hit a double on every pitch.”
Still, Wetherholt has taken no time to adapt at Triple-A. He earned the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month award for July and is batting .297/.394/.648 over 24 games for Memphis.
That begs the question—could Wetherholt, who has recently seen time at third base, help a St. Louis team without veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado (right shoulder strain) and make his MLB debut this season? Maybe, but the 2024 first-round pick is focusing on the present moment.
“I’m just trying to get better and whatever happens, happens,” he said. “It’s not my decision and it’s not something I’m focused on; I’m focused on getting better, learning different positions, learning how to hit and being more consistent and continue to develop as a player. That’s where my head’s at now.”
