Dreams come true for family of Cardinals’ top prospect

Growing up in Ashtabula, Mike Wetherholt was convinced some dreams just belong to others.

Now, as a father, the 1983 Ashtabula High School graduate knows that’s not the case.

Wetherholt is the father of St. Louis Cardinals prospect JJ Wetherholt.

JJ Wetherholt, a 2024 Major League Baseball first-round draft, played in last weekend’s All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta, and has recently been promoted to the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Memphis.

He started the season at Double A Springfield.

Raising his son in Mars, Pennsylvania, a part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, Mike Wetherholt remembers well what he often told his son.

“Just keep plugging away,” Wetherholt said.

As a parent who had played every sport he could in his days as a Panther, Wetherholt could see his son had some ability, but probably never dreamt of just how far it would take him.

“You know, I really didn’t,” he said. “I knew he was good, but he was undersized. Throughout middle school, he was one of the smaller kids.

“With sports, it always seems to be the bigger kids, the ones that grow faster, who are always the best players. I just kept telling him to keep plugging away.”

JJ did just that, and before long, his dad could not help but notice the attention he was generating, nor could he help but wonder where it might take him.

The summer before his freshman year of high school, JJ attended a camp at Kent State. Before the camp was over, he was the starting shortstop on a team exclusively made up of college-bound players.

By the end of the camp, the Kent State coach looked for JJ.

“I was like ‘Wow, Kent State is actually showing interest,” Mike Wetherholt said. “I’d be happy with him going there. The MAC [Mid-American Conference] is a good conference. I went to graduate school there, and I loved the campus.”

A year later, though, his son had caught the eye of another school, West Virginia.

The Mountaineers were more than honest with Wetherholt about the potential they saw in his son.

“They said, ‘Mr Wetherholt, your son is good enough to play in a Power Five Conference,” he said. “They just hoped that he would consider WVU, and that was how they presented it.”

Wetherholt had played Division II college football, and his twin brother, Dave, played Division II baseball.

Doug Wetherholt, Mike and Dave’s brother, is Lakeside High School’s Principal.

“We were never allowed to really dream big, it was like ‘that’s not for us,” Mike Wetherholt said.

But now, he was being told JJ could play for any college he wanted to and would likely be a Major League prospect.

Soon, the Wetherholts were having different conversations.

“We were like, ‘why not him?’” Mike Wetherholt said. “Those dreams don’t have to be just for other people.”

JJ never visited another school aside from WVU, and by his sophomore year of high school, he had accepted an offer to play there.

“It was the best decision we ever made,” Mike Wetherholt said.

From there, the dream his father was told he couldn’t have just kept becoming a reality.

A year ago, the Cardinals made JJ the seventh overall pick in the MLB Draft.

He is the highest draft pick to come out of WVU.

When his name was called, his parents were able to soak in the moment right along with him.

“It was unbelievable,” Wetherholt said. “Major League Baseball runs a first-class operation, and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“We went to the Futures Game, the Home Run Derby, the All-Star game, and we had front row seats for the draft.”

But, like any father, the biggest thrill was seeing what his son got to experience.

“For me, getting to see him talk to guys like Aaron Judge, then to find out he was at a party hanging out with Ken Griffey Jr. and Ryan Howard,” Wetherholt said. “As a father, it’s hard for me to believe, it really is.”

Of course, there is still one big dream yet to be fulfilled - the day he gets to make his major league debut.

He is currently listed as the team’s No. 1 prospect, and 18th overall, according to MLB.com.

The Cardinals had a record of 51-46 at the All-Star break.

They are six and a half games behind the Cubs in the National League Central Division, and a game and a half back for the third wildcard spot.

Wetherholt also knows the trade deadline is approaching, and the big league club may very well be entertaining buyers.

JJ’s name will be one teams looking to sell will ask about.

“I would think when they expand the rosters and have September call-ups, I would think they would … maybe, maybe not,” Wetherholt said. “It’s hard to bring rookies up when you’re in the playoff hunt, though.

“Because rookies are going to struggle, even if they start hot, at some point, they’re going to struggle, and the team does not want to sacrifice wins for development.”

But whether JJ reaches the majors this season or down the road, there is one thing his dad said he’s most proud of.

After the Futures Game, the league offered to fly him back to Memphis or allowed him to head home for a few days.

“‘Fly me to Pittsburgh,’ he told them,” Wetherholt said. “He’s still a very humble kid. Anytime he gets a chance to come home, he does so. His mom and I really appreciate that about him.”