00:00Weatherholt is packing a punch right now.
00:02He's putting together really quality at-bats.
00:04He's playing a heck of a second base defensively right now.
00:08Not only does he look like he is the second piece of the up-the-middle tandem of the future
00:13for St. Louis,
00:14with Mason Wynn playing short, he looks like he should be considered one of the frontrunners,
00:19and it's hard to unseat Nolan McClain, but one of the frontrunners for Nationally Rookie of the Year at this
00:22point.
00:23Especially since it's the hitter award, right?
00:25I think he's got a real, real strong case as one of the favorites, I agree.
00:30I think the biggest thing is having Weatherholt at second base.
00:34My biggest concern was the range at short, kind of similar to the McGonagall conversation.
00:38I think McGonagall has a little bit more carry on his throws, which helps,
00:43and a little bit more comfort thrown from different angles.
00:45But Weatherholt at second base looks like a well-above-average defender,
00:48so now you put him there with Mason Wynn at shortstop, and that's going to be a really fun duo.
00:51The power has been the fun thing to continue to watch just, I think, grow with him.
00:56And it was funny because I'm sitting behind home off the bat.
00:58I definitely thought that was gone.
01:00But I was curious with the projected distances.
01:02The wind was killing the ball today.
01:05But with Weatherholt, he's another guy that just – it's similar to the McGonagall.
01:08They're cut from the same cloth conversation offensively where I just really –
01:13I think they're going to be as steady as they come when it's a rookie situation there
01:18where there's always going to be turbulence.
01:19And I'm sure they'll have some stretches where baseball is hard.
01:22But those are the kind of guys that you put up on opening day
01:24and you just know they're going to carry themselves like big leaguers
01:27and operate a little bit different.
01:29Now, I understand that the Cardinals situation is a little bit different
01:31because, yeah, they're not potentially looking at the playoffs this year.
01:35But to your point, there's another guy that has a very, very strong chance
01:37of winning rookie of the year and a Cardinals team with Heim Bloom
01:40that also is very much going to value the PPI pick.
01:43I think we see him up there.
01:44They're pretty much treating him as such, it seems like.
01:46And I think for Cardinals fans that deserve a little bit better of a product
01:50and more money spent on the team, at least now we're seeing a better product
01:54of young, exciting players that are out here right now.
01:56And Weatherholt's kind of leading that new era and that new charge.
02:00Yeah, there's going to be a new level of excitement in St. Louis this year, I think.
02:03And it's going to be disappointing because you don't have the stalwarts
02:06and the aircraft carriers that are playing every single day.
02:10But Mason Wynn and J.J. Weatherholt can get people to the ballpark.
02:13Yvonne Herrera can get people to the ballpark.
02:15I think Jimmy Crooks is a catcher instead of Pajes and Pozo like they ran out last year.
02:20Can get a couple more people to the ballpark.
02:22And then you've got Jordan Walker as well.
02:24We'll see what that guy can do in 2026 looking to bounce back.
Comments