{"id":80345,"date":"2024-07-17T11:00:11","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T15:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=80345"},"modified":"2025-09-16T11:08:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T15:08:47","slug":"three-takeaways-cardinals-draft-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/17\/three-takeaways-cardinals-draft-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Takeaways From The Cardinals Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The St. Louis Cardinals added 19 players to the organization in the 2024 MLB Draft<\/a> over the past three days. That included the highest draft pick the team has had since 1998, at the seventh overall position. Here are a few takeaways from the Cardinals’ 2024 draft.<\/p>\n

St. Louis Cardinals 2024 Draft Takeaways<\/h2>\n

Potential Steal with the No. 7 Pick<\/h3>\n

The Cardinals selected shortstop JJ Wetherholt<\/a> out of the University of West Virginia with their first pick. Wetherholt was MLB.com’s No. 4 prospect going into the draft. Wetherholt was in the mix for the first overall pick to the Cleveland Guardians. Ultimately, the Guardians ended up selecting infielder Travis Bazzana<\/a> out of Oregon State.<\/p>\n

In three years with the Mountaineers, Wetherholt slashed .370\/.468\/.625\/1.093 with 29 home runs, 49 doubles, 129 RBI, 148 runs, and a 1:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In 2023<\/a>, Wetherhold won the D1 batting title and Big 12 Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

\u201cJJ is ready to begin playing and we\u2019re ready to start his onboarding process,\u201d said Cardinals<\/span> Assistant General Manager and Director of Scouting Randy Flores<\/a> in a statement. \u201cWe like the steps he\u2019s taken to meet the rigors of the game.\u00a0 He takes what\u2019s given to him.\u00a0 He (plays) up the middle, is athletic, has good hands, speed, and makes good contact.\u00a0 JJ knows the zone and has a left-handed swing that does damage. He doesn\u2019t chase and has the ability to impact the ball with a wood bat and can hit it out opposite and to the big part of the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wetherholt is considered one of the best-hitting prospects of this year’s draft class. He had just a 10 percent miss rate in 2023 at West Virginia.<\/p>\n

“Wetherholt might be the best pure hitter in the class and there are some area scouts who think he\u2019s the best amateur bat they\u2019ve ever seen. The left-handed hitter drives the ball to all fields with authority with excellent pitch recognition and elite bat-to-ball skills,” the MLB scouting report on Wetherholt reads.<\/p>\n

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JJ Wetherholt is going to be a problem. #ForTheLou<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/np5nLGQhSm<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 GMGirsch (@GMGirsch) July 15, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n