Infield prospect JJ Wetherholt, who the Cardinals selected with the seventh overall pick in this year’s MLB draft, went one-for-two on Tuesday in his professional debut with Class Low-A Palm Beach.
The 21-year-old infielder started at shortstop and singled on a ball that jumped off his bat with a 107.4 mph exit velocity, per Statcast. Wetherholt walked and struck out in his other two plate appearances before he, like three other 2024 draftees who made their pro debuts on Tuesday, came out of the game at the start of the sixth inning.
The first minor league game for Wetherholt comes over three weeks after he was drafted and over seven weeks after he played in his last NCAA game for West Virginia University.
Wetherholt was one of nine 2024 Cardinals draftees assigned to Class Low-A Palm Beach on Tuesday. He is set to get opportunities at shortstop to begin his professional career.
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Here are other notable prospect performances from around the Cardinals system:
Outfielder Chase Davis, Class High-A Peoria: During his debut in High-A, Davis started in left field and went one-for-two with two RBIs and a strikeout. Both of Davis’s RBIs came on a line-drive single in the fourth inning of Peoria’s 5-3 win at Dozer Park. The former first-round pick’s debut in High-A comes a little over a year after he debuted as a professional. The 22-year-old outfielder batted .232 with a .739 OPS and hit eight home runs in 74 games in Low-A this season before he received a promotion on Tuesday. Since making his pro debut last July, the 2023 first-round pick has posted a .227 average and a .707 OPS in 109 minor league games.
Right fielder Jordan Walker, Class AAA Memphis: Walker went two-for-five with two singles in Memphis’s 10-6 road loss to Durham, giving him his second multi-hit performance in his last five games. Walker improved to a .240 average through 67 Class AAA games with the two-hit game. Through 75 at-bats in July, the 22-year-old owns a .200/.299/.293 slash line. He has five extra-base hits (four doubles and a home run he hit on July 25 on the road against Columbus) since the start of July.Â
Center fielder Victor Scott II, Class AAA Memphis: The speedster flashed a jolt of power at the plate in the sixth inning of Memphis’s loss when he clubbed a 373-foot solo home run that had a 104.9 mph exit velocity. The homer was Scott’s fifth in Class AAA and was his lone hit in four at-bats vs. the Bulls. Scott drew a walk, struck out twice, and lined out to first base on a ball that had a 101 mph exit velocity. The 23-year-old is batting .211 with a .294 on-base percentage in 71 games since being optioned to Memphis.
Right-handed pitcher Ian Bedell, Class AAA Memphis: A grand slam in the first inning and two home runs in the second that included a three-run homer left Bedell with his roughest outing of the season. The 24-year-old right-hander surrendered a season-high 10 runs (all earned) on nine hits. The three home runs he allowed in the first two innings accounted for three of the five he allowed on the night. After allowing eight runs through his first two innings, Bedell allowed a solo home run in the third inning and another solo homer in the fifth. The outing inflated Bedell’s ERA while in Triple-A from 3.18 to 5.08. The former 2020 draft pick entered Tuesday having logged three quality starts in three of his first four outings in July. Since his promotion to Triple-A from Double-A Springfield in June, Bedell has logged 39 innings and struck out 29 batters while keeping them to a .214 average. He owns a 4.86 ERA and has logged a career-high 103 2/3 innings between the two levels.