JJ Wetherholt #77

Played High School baseball at Mars (Pa.) Area High School where Andy Bednar is a coach, father of Pirates relief pitcher David Bednar and Will Bednar, a first round pick by San Francisco in 2019...Played college baseball (2022-24) at West Virginia, where he was teammates with Victor Scott II...Won the Division I batting title with a .449 average in 2023 as a sophomore. Smacked 16 home runs, 60 RBI, 24 doubles and 36 stolen bases...Played in only 36 games his junior season (2024) due to a hamstring injury in February. Still named First Team All-Big XII...Is a natural right-handed batter, but starting hitting left-handed at age six after emulating his older brother...His older brother, Brandon, played college baseball at Gannon (Pa.) University...Was showcased at the 2024 MLB Draft at the Fort Worth Stockyards, wearing a Stetson hat and bolo tie...Resides in Gibsonia, Pa.

2024

Began his professional career with Palm Beach (A), playing in 29 regular season games and helped lead the Cardinals to the 2024 Florida State League Championship, their first outright title since 2005...Batted .421 (8-for-19) in the FSL playoffs with a home run, triple and six RBI, compiling a 1.206 OPS and leading all postseason participants with a .522 on-base percentage...Hit first professional home run at Dunedin (8/7-Game 1) off Kevin Miranda, breaking a 6-6 tie in the top of the seventh to give Palm Beach the 7-6 game-winner...Finished the season with an RBI in five straight games (9/4-8) and nine RBI over that period. Batted .500 (14-for-28) in his six September games with five multi-hit games over a seven game hit streak (8/30-9/8)...Posted a season-high four hits vs. Jupiter (8/16)...Batted .342 (13-for-38) with runners in scoring position and .467 (7-15) w/RISP and two outs...Hit .333 (9-for-27) when behind in the count.