MORGANTOWN — J.J. Wetherholt has a date for this season’s All-Star weekend. The former WVU baseball standout was named Monday to the National League roster for next month’s MLB All-Star Futures Game.
Currently the No. 1-ranked prospect for the St. Louis Cardinals, Wetherholt is batting .305 with five home runs, 27 RBIs and 13 stolen bases at Class AA Springfield this season. He leads Springfield with 61 hits and 41 walks.
The Futures Game is scheduled for 4 p.m. on July 12 in Atlanta, and will be televised by the MLB Network. The game will be seven innings and the National League will be coached by former Atlanta Braves stars Chipper Jones and Marquis Grissom.
Since being drafted No. 7 overall by the Cardinals last summer, Wetherholt has rocketed up the prospect rankings in Minor League Baseball. He is ranked the No. 16 overall prospect overall, making him the third highest-ranked prospect playing in the Futures Game this season behind San Diego’s Leo De Vries (No. 3 overall) and Philadelphia’s Andrew Painter (No. 5).
In 86 career minor league games over two summers, Wetherholt has combined to hit .302 with seven home runs and 47 RBIs.
An All-American at WVU, Wetherholt took college baseball by storm his sophomore season, in which he led the nation in hitting with a .449 batting average, while also hitting 16 home runs and driving in 60. He was named the Big 12 Player of the Year after that season.
Injuries limited his senior season to just 36 games, but he still batted .331 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs to lead the Mountaineers to their first-ever appearance in the super regionals of the NCAA tournament.
Following his junior season, Wetherholt became WVU’s first-ever top 10 draft pick into professional baseball.
The Futures Game will feature 50 of the top minor-league prospects. The National League is 3-1-1 since the format was changed to National League vs. American League prospects in 2019. The NL won last year’s contest 6-1, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
