JJ Wetherholt as No. 7 Overall Pick Marks History for WVU Baseball Program

JJ Wetherholt provided the WVU baseball program one final piece of history as his college career comes to an end and his professional journey begins. When the St. Louis Cardinals selected Wetherholt with the seventh overall pick of the MLB Draft on Sunday night, the Mars, Pa. native became the highest drafted player in program history.

Prior to Wetherholt, former West Virginia ace Alek Manoah tied ex Mountaineer Chris Enochs for the honor. Manoah was drafted 11th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019. Enochs was also taken at No. 11 in 1997 by the Oakland Athletics.

Making history on draft night!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/CxGBEOTqdO

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) July 15, 2024

Despite missing half of the season with an injury, Wetherholt still hit eight home runs and recorded 30 RBI while posting a .375 batting average during the regular season.

In 2023, Wetherholt hit .449 with 16 home runs and 36 bases stolen bases and was a finalist for college baseball’s Dick Howser Trophy.

Wetherholt became the top star during the most successful period in WVU baseball program history. The team accomplishments were highlighted by back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances, a Super Regional and even a share of a Big 12 regular season title.

WV Sports Now spoke with MLB pipeline senior writer Jim Callis back in April about Wetherholt’s stock and potential as a professional player.

“JJ might be the best pure hitter in this Draft. He makes it look easy, making hard contact to all fields against all types of pitching. There’s at least average power in there, plus speed, and at worst he’s a second baseman if not a shortstop. If he reaches his ceiling, maybe he’s a quicker, lefty-hitting version of Dustin Pedroia.”

Follow WV Sports Now for more coverage of JJ Wetherholt as he now begins his professional career.

For a related story, WVU fans instantly started celebrating on social media after JJ Wetherholt was drafted by the Cardinals.