Photo courtesy of BlueGoldNews.com West Virginia University shortstop JJ Wetherholt poses for a photo after he was selected No. 7 overall in the 2024 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.

MORGANTOWN — It had been less than two minutes after his name had been sung out in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft when West Virginia’s All-American shortstop JJ Wetherholt walked to the podium after the St. Louis Cardinals had used the seventh pick of the first round to draft him.

Ever the free spirit, Wetherholt was dressed for the occasion, a black Stetson hat on his hat, an old west string tie and a smile on his face.

After all, the site was Fort Worth, Texas, the Cowtown Coliseum, which hosted the first rodeo ever held in America.

And, after donning a Cardinal shirt with the iconic Redbird perched on a baseball bat and heading for his first interview as a professional player, Wetherholt was humble enough to thank his family, his lord, his West Virginia baseball team, yet carried the swagger of an old-west gunslinger when asked what the Cardinals are getting in him.

“They’re getting a baller,” he said. “I can do it all and I can learn to do anything. I am super excited. West Virginia made me the player I am today.”.”

The young man lacks no confidence, to be sure, and if he delivers he will be doing it in one of the great baseball cities in America; a city that knows great baseball from a guy named Stan Musial, who was good enough to merit a nickname as simple as “The Man”, along with Bob Gibson and Lou Brock and Rogers Hornsby, a second baseman who once hit a major league record .424 season.

It would not be surprising before it’s all over to see Wetherholt live up to his boast of being someone who “can do it all” and elbow his way among the many Cardinal greats …although he can forget right now thinking about being the greatest left-handed hitter the team ever had.

That’s Musial’s to keep.

Entering the draft there was talk that Wetherholt might even become the No. 1 selection in the draft, an honor that went to Travis Bazzana, a second baseman from Australia who played at Oregon State and this year hit .401 with 28 home runs. The Cleveland Guardians took Bazzana.

If not first, the consensus was that he would be a Top 5 pick, he slid just slightly.

It is understandable for after hitting .449 to lead all of Power 5 baseball as a sophomore in 2023, leading WVU to a Big 12 title, something that made him proud enough to hold it up for the TV camera to see, he was injured early this past season.

A pulled hamstring cost him 24 games and his batting average slipped to .331 and his home run total from 16 to 8 and stolen bases from 36 to 6,

It didn’t help him any, either, when closed out the season with the scouts really bearing down on him by collecting just five hits in his final 31 at bats without an RBI over the final eight games.

But any time you pick in the top 10 of the first round of the MLB draft you know they are expecting a star major league player and Wetherholt has all of the tools to provide that.

Doesn’t matter what a team wants to ask of him, he’s capable of delivering it. Asked to describe his game, he did it this way.

“I’d say everything, like a Swiss Army Knife. Able to hit, able to steal, able to throw, able to field well … everything.”

He also brings versatility, having played third base as a freshman, second base as a sophomore and shortstop as a junior.

What’s more, he’s shown tremendous growth both physically and mentally coach Randy Mazey guided him through his career.

“He changed my life, for sure,” Wetherholt said. “He taught me so much about life in general. Obviously, he made a better baseball player, but he taught me things outside of the sport.”

The No. 7 draft slot with the Cardinals stands at $6,823,700, but that is the maximum and the Cardinals could offer less and save some money for lower players who may be thinking of going to college instead of signing.