JJ Wetherholt was named to the 2025 National League Futures Game roster on Monday and the scene at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 12 fits nicely into a season that’s gone according to script for the Cards’ top prospect. But if the Future’s Game foreshadows Wetherholt’s promise, his heroics at Hammons Field on June 15 is rising action that’s worth reliving.
As the Cards closed in on the Texas League North first-half title and 2025 playoff berth, Springfield trailed Tulsa 4-3 on Sunday afternoon in the eighth inning of the game that began Saturday night and was delayed by rain. Ramon Mendoza smacked a game-tying homer off Drillers’ reliever Jerming Rosario, and with two outs Noah Mendlinger reached on an infield single to bring JJ to the plate. Wetherholt saw a slider, curveball and changeup from Rosario and with the count even 2-2, JJ had a hunch what was coming next.
Photo courtesy of PJ Maigi | Springfield Cardinals
“I think he threw me one of everything except his fastball…I saw the changeup pretty well the first time he threw it. Just the way the at-bat goes, sometimes you have a feeling he’ll go back to a certain pitch and (I was) just ready for it. He ended up going with the changeup and that’s what I hit,” Wetherholt said.
JJ turned on an inside delivery and sailed a line drive to the right-center field gap. From his vantage point at second base, Wetherholt watched as Mendlinger slid across the plate head-first, helmet flying and fist pumping, to give Springfield a 5-4 lead that held up for the Cards’ 37th win of the season.
CAPTAIN CLUTCH! JJ Wetherholt comes through AGAIN! The Cardinals are in front. pic.twitter.com/zmzUzUrWM7
— Springfield Cardinals (@Sgf_Cardinals) June 15, 2025
“I got a pretty good angle of (the slide), it was pretty cool,” Wetherholt said. “Props to him for being ready to run like that – it’s not easy when you’re an everyday player, playing a ton, to go first-to-third and it’s big time. It shows he plays the game hard every single time and that’s what happens.”
“Anytime you’re on first base with two outs, you’re trying to score from first…JJ hit that ball in the gap, the other team made a good relay,” Mendlinger said. “Whoever was on deck, I think it was Bernal, was telling me to slide and get outside, so I did my best to kind of Superman dive and get out there. It was a great piece of hitting by JJ and just a great moment for us as a team.”
Wetherholt overcame an illness that sidelined him for a week early in the season to slash .305/.430/.453 in 57 games to help Springfield run away with the Texas North Division first-half title. He’s sprayed 62 hits to all fields – including 19 extra base hits – and struck out just 35 times in 251 plate appearances. The trip to MLB All-Star Weekend will train the spotlight on the Cards’ first Top 10 draft pick since 1998, but Wetherholt – an avid fisherman who drove his truck to the Ozarks from Florida when spring camp broke and is a regular customer at Bass Pro headquarters in Springfield – keeps a level head.
Photo courtesy of PJ Maigi | Springfield Cardinals
“You just have to be where your feet are – I think that’s the constant battle of baseball. Never look too highly into how your performance is doing, and on a day-to-day basis just relax, sit back, enjoy the ride, and take it day by day.”
“He’s very mature,” Springfield manager Patrick Anderson said. “To see the little things defensively, what he’s done, he’s made some progression there, and on the bases. He’s an elite hitter but there’s all aspects – this is his first full (professional) season, people don’t really remember that. Him going through this at a Double-A level is very tough, not very many guys have done that. The game has progressed to move guys forward.”
