Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - JJ Wetherholt’s Arrival Could TRANSFORM the St. Louis Cardinals Infield BY OPENING DAY

Starting point is 00:00:00 The St. Louis Cardinals announced their minor league player and pitcher of the year. And today, I'll tell you how both of them could impact the Major League roster this year. You are Locked-on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, they're Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Hafford, a former national radio sports anchor, born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. And welcome to Locked-on Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. the number one sports podcast network.

Starting point is 00:00:37 You can follow us on the socials at Lockedon Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio. Thank you to the everydayers for continuing to be here with us. And for those of you who are new, welcome aboard. I hope you enjoyed the content. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to by Fandul. Right now new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app.

Starting point is 00:01:00 Download the app today. On today's show, the Cardinals have made some announcements. about this year's winter warmup and the caravan. I'll share those with you. Got some new details about that. One major change going on with the winter warmup that I have to let you end on. It's one of my favorite events that they do,

Starting point is 00:01:17 very fan-friendly. So I'm excited about it. But we begin today with the Cardinals announcing their minor league player and pitcher of the year awards, which go to infielder, JJ Weatherholt, and left-handed starter, Bryson Mott. Now we've talked about MOTS a decent amount recently after he got added to the 40-man roster on Monday to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Starting point is 00:01:39 So we're going to start off with J.J. Weatherholt, who continues to be gushed over by scouts and prognosticators talking about his potential impact for the Cardinals and their 2026 roster. I'm right there with him. Like, I am so excited to see J.J. Weatherholt as a part of the St. Louis Cardinals at some point. And if you're a fan and it felt sour about the Cardinals due to their last. of spending or just their lack of winning in general. The one super-duper bright spot that I think we should all be excited about and look forward to is the eventual arrival of their top prospect, JJ Weatherholt.

Starting point is 00:02:16 He becomes the fifth middle infielder to win the organization's Player of the Year Award joining Colton Wong in 2013, Adam Kennedy in 1999, who ended up getting traded to the Angels, and that's how Jim Edmunds got here. Pablo O'Suna, 1998, and then Brent Butler in 1997. he also becomes the sixth player to win the organizational honor one year after being drafted by the club joining Jordan Walker, who is obviously, clearly on the team right now. Who else? Matt Carpenter back in 2010, Colby Rasmus back in 2006. He was part of that deal with the Blue Jays that helped the Cardinals win a World Series. And then that guy, Albert Poole holes, might have heard of him back in 2000. And then there was Butler as well. The last prospect that I really remember feeling this excited about since, at least that I've been old enough when I cared about prospects.

Starting point is 00:03:05 You know, normally when you're younger, you don't care about the prospects. You're thinking about whoever the stars are on the field. But the last prospect I remember being this excited about was J.D. Drew in the late 90s. I know Walker was a big prospect, but he was a late first round pick. Drew was different. Drew was different. You know, remember maybe you don't if you're younger, but J.D. Drew. was like the golden boy of college baseball while he was at Florida State,

Starting point is 00:03:33 where he was the player of the year, golden spikes winner. Most people expected him to go number one, but his contract demands likely scared off the Detroit Tigers, and instead he got picked by the Phillies and number two overall in 1997. For those of you who don't remember and are wondering who went ahead of J.D. drew in that 97 draft, Matt Anderson, pitcher, went to the Tigers. electric arm was so good and may or may not have torn a muscle in like his armpit area during an octopus throwing contest for Detroit Red Wings tickets.

Starting point is 00:04:07 That was the rumor that was floating around back in the day and it ruined his once bright career because he was throwing like 102 and that's like crazy speed back in 1997. I know nowadays you see it a little more often, but back then it was nuts to have somebody throw in triple digits all the time. Came back. It was barely crack in 90, like just ruined his whole career. But Drew didn't sign his agent, Scott Boris. Stop me if you've heard this one before. They wanted more money. Philly wouldn't pay. So we went back into the draft. Cardinals take him at number five overall in 1998, forked over $7 million to sign him. And with that money and draft status, obviously came expectations. And we couldn't wait to see J.D. Drew at the big league level.

Starting point is 00:04:49 And when he first got called up, it looked like he was going to be the superstar, everybody thought he was going to end up being. And it just never happened. He never lived up to those expectations in St. Louis, ultimately shipped to the Atlanta Braves where he had his best season of his career. But in that deal, the Cardinals were able to get Jason Marquis, Ray King, and a young pitching prospect by the name of Adam Wainwright in return. So not too shabby. I don't think we're going to want to go back and change that trade at all. J.J. Weatherholt is similar to J.D. Drew in a few different ways. Left-handed. Cool. Not a huge guy listed at, what, 510, 190. J.D. Drew was like 6 feet, 200,

Starting point is 00:05:32 but he wasn't like a big hulking guy by any means. Both top prospects, five tool guys who could have gone number one overall in their drafts. JJ was rumored to possibly be the number one overall pick in that 2024 draft. But luckily for the Cardinals, he ends up slipping to number seven after dealing with an injury in his final season in college and landed at the Cardinals. And the Cardinals were like, yeah, thank you. Biggest difference, though. And thank God for the Cardinals that there is this difference is that J.J. Weatherholt has a passion for the game of baseball that we never saw from J.D. Drew. J.J. Weatherholt appears to be a baseball team's dream player because not only does he have all the attributes on the field, but he's got the mental side on and off the field pretty much in check as well, as far as I can tell. He's got a competitive fire to be the best that he can be. He never just settles and is like, hey, you know, I'm pretty good.

Starting point is 00:06:33 he just continues to want to do more and be better and seems to be a natural captain in the making. Now, sometimes you find players, they got all the natural talents in the world, but they don't care enough to keep working at it to become the best they can be. They'll just coast and rely on their God-given talent to get them by, and that doesn't work most of the time. But that doesn't appear to be a problem with JJ. according to Daniel Guerrero's story at STLt Today.com, JJ told him on a Zoom call,

Starting point is 00:07:05 and you guys are going to love this. This spring training is definitely going to be a little bit of a different vibe. I'm going to go out there looking to make the team. Last year, I was kind of just there for the experience, but this year we'll have the goal of making the team on our plate, and I'm going to work to do so. Hopefully it comes out well in spring training. He also went in during the Zoom call talking about, you know,

Starting point is 00:07:26 how he doesn't, you know, just look at himself and just like, you know, I'm good, I'm fine. He continues to want to strive to improve at everything he does. The numbers say that he's ready for the major leagues right now. He slash 306, 421, 510, 17 o' runs, 28 doubles, 2 triples, 59 rubbies, 82 runs scored, 23 stolen bases at a 931 OPS across the 109 games that he played with both AA and AAA. He was at Springfield for 62 games with Memphis for 47, was among the Cardinals' top three

Starting point is 00:07:59 minor league leaders in just about every category you can think of OPS, batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, hits, extra base hits, doubles, dingers, walks, runs, that 421 on base percentage ranked fifth among all qualified minor league players. He can play shortstop. He can play second. He can play third. And maybe most importantly, let's not ignore that just about every team he has gone to in his minor league career so far, they end up winning.

Starting point is 00:08:29 Stats are fun, but the ultimate goal is to stack wins. And when he goes somewhere, those teams start winning. It happened in Palm Beach when he first got drafted and started playing there. He was a big part of what Springfield did last year in the 60, what, two games. Was that what it was? 62 games that he was with them last year. In fact, John didn't point of this stat out. And his 109 games played this season, Springfield and Memphis combined.

Starting point is 00:08:59 for a 68 and 41 record when J.J. Weatherhole played. That's a 624 winning percentage. Those teams were 17 and 18 when he didn't play for. So I'm sure that if he had a full season in Memphis, they would benefit immensely as well from what J.J. Weatherhole brings to the table, again, not just on the field, but also off the field of the type of guy he is and the leadership that he provides. But as we know, we are not in this to win, minor league chair. We are in this to win world championships at the major league level. And although there will be different factors that need to happen first, most experts believe that JJ will be on the St. Louis Cardinals at the start of the

Starting point is 00:09:44 2026 season, instead at AAA. Now, the Cardinals, as I mentioned, they got to make some moves. They got to make some room to get him in there. You know, he's not on the 40-man roster yet, which is currently full after the additions that they made earlier this week. but Nolan Aronado is expected to be moved. Brendan Donovan could also be moved. There's a real chance that you're starting infield on opening day

Starting point is 00:10:07 will have Nolan Gorman at third base, Mason went at shortstop, and J.J. Weatherholt at second base. And I don't want to hear what about Thomas O'JC. No, I don't want to hear about that. Thomas and Jacey is a nice player, and hopefully he's a big piece of the puzzle as a utility guy. He is not what J.J. Weatherhold is. So let's knock that nonsense off.

Starting point is 00:10:29 If you want to argue whether Gorman should be a third or C.C., then I guess we can get into something like that. Maybe a little righty, lefty platooning going on there. That could be a thing too. But opening day, you might see Gorman win Weatherholt at third, short, and second. And I, for one, would probably not complain about that. Bryson Mott's is a different story, but a good one. All the same.

Starting point is 00:10:50 We'll discuss how he could impact the team next year as well. Coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. The NBA is back and there is no better. place to get in on the action than Fandall. It's the official sports betting partner of the NBA. We got busy schedules, you and I both, and if we miss the start of a game or we don't show up until late in a game that we wanted to watch, one of our favorite players or teams is playing, then you're like, oh, no, what do I do bet wise? Well, Fandals got live bets. Live bets are awesome. You can do it on everything from who's going to score next to fourth quarter comebacks.

Starting point is 00:11:28 plus you can combine those live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. Live bets is where it's at. You know how you'll be sitting around watching whatever sporting event it is. And you're like, you know what? I'm with my friends. I bet so-and-so does this. And everybody holds you to it. And then if it happened, you're like, oh, see, I told you.

Starting point is 00:11:48 Well, now you can cash in on stuff like that. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team's making that late push right now. Fandall is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets. when your first $5 bet when. So head to fandall.com. Sign up and play your game with Fandall, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Thanks for making it locked on Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:12:13 Your first listen every day. And thank you for making it locked on. The number one sports podcast network. If you enjoy daily Cardinals content, you can follow the podcast on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals. We're also on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals as well.

Starting point is 00:12:25 We did talk about 24-year-old left-old and Brice and Mons earlier in the week when he was added to the 40-man roster. A lot of upside with this guy. ranked 21st in the organization, former second round pick. So there's pedigree there. Came in 2022 out of San Diego. He was a college guy. At Springfield, this past season, he went eight and three, 2.980RA, 25 starts. Opponents hit just 219 against them. Struck out of 134 hitters and 114 and 2 thirds innings. He's got great control.

Starting point is 00:12:53 He becomes the eighth left-handed pitcher to win the award joining Quinn Matthews in 24. Matthew Libertore in 21. Austin Gomber, who's a free agent, I believe, in 20. 15, Marco Gonzalez in 14, Tyler Johnson and O2, Bud Smith, Mr. No-Hitter himself in 2000. And then Rick Ankeel in 98 and 99. Now, per John Denton, the 6-4 Southball ranked among Cardinals minor league pitching leaders in wins, strikeouts, starts, ERA, innings pitch, strikeout percentage, strikeout to walk ratio, whip and opponents on base percentage. You expect that if he's going to be, you know, the organization's pitcher of the year award. and I'll be honest. I'll be honest with you. I didn't pay as much attention to Bryson Mott's as I should have this year.

Starting point is 00:13:39 I did because I had my head so far up Quinn Matthews butt all year, hoping that he would come out of his funk and get healthy and become the next big thing after his huge season in 2024 when, you know, there's Moths right here just going out and dealing day after day, just doing his job and winning baseball games for his teams. don't get me wrong. I still love me some Quinn Matthews. I still have extremely high hopes for Quinn Matthews one day. But my bad. Mott's deserves all the credit that he earned this year. So I will do better in the future as far as paying attention to more people instead of just praying for an injured guy to be better. Cardo's director of player development, Larry Day, had this to say in an interview with John Denton about Bryson Mott's says that Bryson's 20. 25 seasons showcase tremendous growth through a calculated process. Those that know Bryson are not surprised after he spent an offseason dedicating himself to velocity development. He showed the ability to translate deliberate mound work and athletic throwing programs into an impressive string of quality starts while also refining his breaking ball shapes and fastball execution. The endgame

Starting point is 00:14:52 results are outcomes of Bryson's willingness to lean into his development plan with intent and maturity, blending mechanical refinement, pitch design, and strength work into a complete starters routine. From afar, it was awesome to see Motzzi solidify big league caliber habits. Now, as a fan, you love to hear all of that. A lot of big fancy words there, but you like to hear all of that. A lot of positivity coming from the Bryce and Mott's camp. But the part of this that I'm focused on is at the end there. Big league caliber habits. Again, you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have your head, straight and you don't have it all figured out mentally of how that you need to attack this game

Starting point is 00:15:37 and your career and become better and better and better and not settle for things that you've already done, then you're in trouble. And again, just like JJ, it appears that Bryson Mons is somebody who's got his head on straight. If you haven't heard, the Cardinals have some openings and they're starting rotation going in to the 2026 season. Now for at this moment, at this moment on the 20th, Sunny Gray, Matthew Libertor, Michael McGreevy are the three guys that they're there. Kyle Leahy and Andre Palante will compete for rotation spots, but there is no guarantee that either of them will win those spots, but they'll compete for them. You also have a strong possibility that Sunny Gray ends up getting traded, which leaves

Starting point is 00:16:22 another spot over it. Now, we don't know what the team might get back in deals for guys like Sunny or Aronado or even Brennan Donovan or anyone else for that matter that they choose to ship. Maybe an MLB ready starter is part of those deals. Maybe not. Depending on how much money that they clear also tells us what they could spend in free agency, what they would have available leftover to use on a starting pitcher or pitchers. You know, I've been bringing up reclamation projects, guys who have had some injury concerns and are looking to bounce back.

Starting point is 00:16:55 and, you know, if you've got a spot in a rotation that they automatically, like, that, that could be yours, man. And you can get your career back on track with St. Louis Cardinals. I've given you some names there that I think would fit the bill. But I still think that you have, you got to believe that Mott's is at least on the radar for 2026, right? Right. I mean, he isn't old by any means, but he isn't a kid either. He's 24 years old.

Starting point is 00:17:18 The body at this point has matured to a point where shouldn't have any issues. handling the rigors of a major league season. Denton pointed out that Mott's pitch six innings or more in four of his 25 starts, all of them are quality starts, and reach five innings or longer in 14 of 25. So he's not somebody that only last three, four innings normally. He's a solid starting pitcher that eats innings. I know we're sick of hearing that term, but he's somebody that goes deeper into games than a lot of people do at this point in their career. And, just like JJ when he pitches, the teams normally win. Springfield was 17 and 8 in Bryson starts this season, which according to Denton was the best team winning percentage, 680, of any Cardinals minor league pitcher to make at least 20 starts.

Starting point is 00:18:08 Over his final 12 regular season starts, he went 7 and 1 while registering a 1.95 ERA in 60 innings. He struck out 69 hitters. He also started and won both of Springfield series clinching games in the Texas League. So pressure situations. He's been in. them. He's also, like we heard the term that Hyman Bloom used in an interview with Randy Carrier was that, you know, we need our minor leaguers to bleed a little bit, you know, to suffer and, you know, have some setbacks and, you know, learn to overcome adversity at some point. And it's not like everything's been super easy for Bryson bots. But he overcame some things in his early career. And he's, you're starting to see the fruits of his labor. He has not pitched above

Starting point is 00:18:54 double a yet and I understand that. He is likely going to begin the season at AAA Memphis and that's fine. Test the water there before anything else happens before we get ahead of ourselves. But when I'm thinking about an entire 162 game season and we've got this second season of like runway and transition, he's got to be on the radar. I wouldn't expect the Cardinals to get as lucky as they did in 2025 when six starting pitchers combined to make 159 of their 162 starts. That's crazy. That's not normal. It's almost unheard of.

Starting point is 00:19:33 Sonny, Libby, Michaelis, Fetty, and McGreevy had 159 of the 162 starts. Stephen Matt's made two, and then Calahehe made one of the late ones on September 28th against the Cups. That was it. That's not normal. That's not normal. So would I expect to see Mots up in the big leagues at some point in 2026? Yeah, I think so. If he stays the course, no injuries, continues to be the type of pitcher that he was this year.

Starting point is 00:20:00 I believe he and my guy, Quinn Matthews, will be two of the first guys called upon if needed, but both will likely start at Memphis. And that's okay. That's all right. But I'm starting to enjoy the depth that the Cardinals have in the minors. You know, last year, a lot of those guys got hurt. Jerpy was out. Ticoa Robby got hurt. Sim Robesah got hurt. You know, hopefully this year you got, like I said, Quinn Matthews-Mauts, a healed-up Cooper Jerpy. Hopefully he's all the way back.

Starting point is 00:20:32 You've got Liam Doyle looking to make his presence felt in his first full minor league season. Tink Pence is still live somewhere. Like, I don't know what they're going to do with them to keep a melody, but they got figured out. Ishaun Anderson is a name. This should be at Memphis this year, had an excellent season. in at Springfield. Plus whatever deal Heim makes should net more arms, whatever deals he makes

Starting point is 00:20:55 with whatever players he does it with, that's going to get him some arms because that's what he's after, young controllable starting pitchers. So just like can die hard too, man, stack and pack him and rack them. Many arms as you can get, let's get them. One major change to this year's winter warm up that I want to tell you about and details on the caravan. That's coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. Thanks for making Lockedown Cardinals. Your first listen every day for your second list and check out Lockdown MLB hosted by my guy Sully, who brings you a daily blend of humor in baseball throughout the off season. You can find Locked on MTV on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. The Cardinals and Cardinals Care are excited to announce the return of the 29th annual

Starting point is 00:21:41 Cardinals Care winter warm up coming to Bush Stadium and Ballpark Village. That'll take place Saturday, January 17th and Sunday, January 18th. Tickets are going on sale on Friday, the 28th at 10 a.m. St. Louis time. The winter warm-up is the unofficial kickoff to the Cardinals baseball season. Fans will have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to celebrate their favorite team while supporting Cardinals Care, the team's charitable foundation that helps children throughout the St. Louis community. It has for quite a while been one of my favorite things to do. My mom and I go all the time, she's a monster, monster Cardinals fan, and we love just walking around, seeing all the different things, meeting players, meeting coaches, meeting some of the guys from the past.

Starting point is 00:22:23 It really is a fun event. Like, they do a good job. Mainstage entertainment this year, fans can enjoy a live Q&A session with current and former players, coaches, and broadcasters. Heimbloom's going to be there. Promo schedule will get revealed. There's the kids press conference, which is always hilarious with the kids asking the questions to the players and the coaches.

Starting point is 00:22:43 You can bid on exclusive live auction items from the main stage of Ballpark Village, Access is free for all fans while VIP seating is reserved for winter warm-up ticket holders. Autograph and photo opportunities with players and coaches and alumni. That's all super awesome. The Hall of Fame and the museum will be open to people. Every winter warm-up ticket, you get access to that. You can explore the exhibits, including the debut of the 2006 World Series exhibit and relive the most memorable moments in team history. Clubhouse tours, ever been in a big league clubhouse?

Starting point is 00:23:16 You can now. You get to do that. you get to go out on the field and uh well i don't think you get to go on the field you get to go into the dugout if memory serves you have to do the dugout part but that's pretty cool you get to see uh what it's like walking the tunnel going from the clubhouse down out to uh to the to the dugout what the cardinals do for each game uh silent auctions the redbird club at bush stadium will will transform where you get like the vendors and the memorabilia and collectible some of these hats that you guys see in my videos uh that's where I get them because they're like hats that were made for the team and then they go on sale.

Starting point is 00:23:54 And during the winter warmup, so I always pick up one or two things, some cool collectibles for fans. There's kids active. It's just a ton going on. The big change you'll notice there is that there's only two days this time. Only two days this go around instead of three. Not sure if it's because of attendance last year at the games or just attendance at winter warm up. I don't know why. I don't know if they have anything to do with it.

Starting point is 00:24:17 but it's two days, but that's plenty. Like I've had full weekend passes in the past before, and I never have made it more than two days. So I don't think this will be much of an issue, but it is a major change just to be aware of. All the proceeds for the warm-up, benefit Cardinals care supporting programs like Redbird rookies, Cardinals Nike, R&B, R&B, RBI,

Starting point is 00:24:38 youthful ball field renovations and grants for nonprofit organizations serving kids, helping the kids, man. That's what it's all about. Cardinals also announced a return of the Cardinals Caravan presented by Missouri Farm Bureau Insurance. The annual traveling road show will bring current players, alumni, and broadcasters to 15 cities across six states throughout Cardinals Nation over a four-day period from January 16 through the 19th.

Starting point is 00:24:59 Additional details and player participation are going to be announced in early January. I do have the cities and stuff for you. I'll put those up on the screen there for those of you who want to see them. But that's a cool thing too. if you don't live in St. Louis. Not everybody does. I know we pretend that we're all in the same city together. Not always the case. Not always the case. So you have to, you know, sometimes you have to reach out and go to where the fans are. And that's what the Cardinals Caravan is all about. They're going to be in Jeff City, Springfield, Champagne, Peoria, Joplin, Rala, Springfield, Illinois, as well as Missouri, Bloomington, Illinois, Memphis. Centralia, Illinois, Evansville, Indiana, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Dyersburg, Tennessee.

Starting point is 00:25:50 I used to play some baseball tournaments there, Paducah, Kentucky, and another old stomping ground of mine, Kate Girardo, Missouri. So Cardinals are coming to a city near you. So if you get a chance, go check them out. Thanks for making a lot on Cardinals. First Listen every day. If you haven't already, not most of you have, but if you haven't already, please give us a follow on X at L1 underscore Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:26:14 Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals, like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. We just went over 13,100 subscribers. We're trying to get to 15 before opening day. I think we can do it. Some people say we can't. Let's prove them wrong. You're the best fans in baseball for a reason.

Starting point is 00:26:36 We'll see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - JJ Wetherholt’s Arrival Could TRANSFORM the St. Louis Cardinals Infield BY OPENING DAY

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.