ST. LOUIS -- JJ Wetherholt’s go-ahead swing in the eighth inning of the Cardinals’ 7-4 win over the Rockies on Sunday at Busch Stadium sent the standout rookie directly into his next task.
Replacing his bat with a pen, Wetherholt wasted no time before diving into his routine to journal about the day’s action.
From Sunday, his future self will receive a reminder about how to handle late-game plate appearances that carry the potential to drive in the winning run -- and how a calm mind in those moments can pay dividends.
“Just trying to write down the mentality going into that,” Wetherholt explained. “In those situations, especially as a leadoff guy, I feel like it can be rarer than most. So, you get those situations, you can really get amped up and just try to be the hero.
"So, in that situation, I just tried to stay calm. We always talk about letting the pitcher make the mistake and just putting a good swing on it. So, just write that down. Then, when you’re in that situation again, you try to get back to that mindset.”
Wetherholt’s consummate approach produced the clutch moment the Cardinals sought.
St. Louis spent much of the afternoon with the lead, but when Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman punished a George Soriano offering 394 feet into Big Mac Land to tie it in the top of the eighth, the Cardinals suddenly needed someone to deliver another key swing.
José Fermín’s sacrifice bunt put the go-ahead baserunners where they needed to be. Wetherholt delivered a decisive blow, his two-run double over the head of center fielder Cole Carrigg putting the Cardinals back firmly in the driver’s seat.
Reaching base for his fourth time following a pair of walks and a single in the seventh, Wetherholt kept his cool in a run-producing spot -- one that, as he acknowledged, isn’t necessarily typical for his position in the batting order.
“I always joke around, hey, throw me in the two-hole one of these days,” Wetherholt said with a grin. “But leadoff’s cool. It’s interesting. I think the true leadoff hitter is kind of a dying breed. So you see a lot of more guys that are really good at swinging right away. Think of, like, James Wood and [Shohei] Ohtani. Those guys are leading off -- they start the game off 1-0.
“I’m a little bit different than that but just important for me to have good at-bats. Take pride in having selfless at-bats, just try to get on base for the guys behind me.”
Prior to Sunday’s eruption, Wetherholt had been held to a meager 3-for-21 at the plate in August. But the steady drumbeat of his efforts as the leadoff man has remained evident for the Cardinals, with the rookie second baseman still managing to find his way on base via seven walks in that same stretch.
Whether his swing is up or down in a given span, the walk has continued to be a constant for Wetherholt, whose 57 bases on balls this season leads all NL rookies.
“I think I’ve had a couple stretches like that where it’s like, walk a good bit, have really competitive at-bats and then just not able to find a ton of hits,” Wetherholt said. “That’s just going to be the nature of it -- that will probably be a thing for my entire career.
“Just looking back at it and being like, man, I’m in every at-bat. I’m able to draw walks even when things aren’t going well. That’s good to have and just continues to try to build me as a player to just be that complete hitter.”
Wetherholt’s big day contributed to a productive collective approach against Colorado pitching in Sunday’s win. No inning came easy for Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen, who needed 70 pitches to record the first nine outs against the pesky Cardinals lineup.
In that stretch, St. Louis batters fouled off 17 pitches while recording six hits and two walks to set the tone. But the Cardinal bats varied their approach when necessary: Wetherholt’s game-winning double, a first-inning RBI single by Jordan Walker and an Alec Burleson home run in the fifth all came on first pitches.
“Being on go is important. You don’t try to just grind at-bats for the sake of grinding,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “You don’t want chase, you want to get him in the zone and you want to be super selective. But when it’s where you’re hunting, let it eat. Those guys did a good job of that.”