Cardinals’ JJ Wetherholt is the favorite to win some valuable hardware originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Major League Baseball has seen a handful of rookies emerge this season who look like future stars.
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Given the star power permeating the American and National Leagues, the Rookie of the Year races will be as contested as the National League Cy Young Award race. With so many rookies deserving, only one can win the award.
In a poll conducted by MLB.com of 32 experts, St. Louis Cardinals infielder JJ Wetherholt is the favorite to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Wetherholt has a decent lead over Cincinnati Reds infielder Sal Stewart, who finished with 112 total vote points and eight first-place votes, while Wetherholt received 120 total vote points and 13 first-place votes.
A former first-round pick (seventh overall) by the Cardinals in the 2024 MLB Draft, Wetherholt is leading National League Rookies in some of the top offensive categories.
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“Since homering on Opening Day in his MLB debut, the Cardinals’ top prospect entering the season made known that he’d be in this discussion all season,” wrote MLB.com’s Jason Foster. “His .358 on-base percentage is the highest among qualified NL rookies while his .753 OPS ranks third. After a slowdown for most of May, Wetherholt has hit .333 with an .807 OPS over his past seven games entering Tuesday. Meanwhile, his nine homers are second-most among NL rookies.”
Among National League rookies, Wetherholt leads all qualified rookies in on-base percentage (.358, which is 10 more points than Stewart, .348). The 23-year-old also leads in runs (40), second to Stewart (35) in walks (31) and is fourth in hits (56).
Wetherholt has other competition outside of Stewart, with New York Mets‘ Nolan McLean and Pittsburgh Pirates‘ Konnor Griffin the other two. However, McLean has a near-4.00 ERA on the season (3.98), and Griffin is currently on the injured list, which puts him out of the running.
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