Cardinals first-round pick related to fans in record timing

The St. Louis Cardinals found themselves in unfamiliar territory. They held the No. 7 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft thanks to their brutal 71-91 2023 campaign. This Cardinals team that is used to having to find star power later in the first round, was going to get one of its seven favorite players. There's a good chance that JJ Wetherholt was ranked a lot higher than No. 7 on their board.

Wetherholt doesn't have one specific trait that sticks out. He's legitimately good at everything and happens to play at a very important position, shortstop. Whether he'll be a big leaguer is not a question. The only question is when. FanSided's Roger Castillo gave a scouting report before the draft, predicting Wetherholt wouldn't fall past the No. 5 pick.

Getting Wetherholt at No. 7 feels like a steal for the Redbirds, and apparently Cardinals fans aren't the only ones excited about the pick. Wetherholt himself took to Twitter to celebrate the moment immediately after he was drafted.

Cardinals draft pick is already a fan-favorite with perfectly-timed tweet

Wetherholt is as fired up to be a Cardinal as Cardinals fans are to be able to root for Wetherholt. The young shortstop taking the time to send that simple tweet shows a lot about how excited he is and about how motivated he is to join this organization.

Wetherholt continued to connect with the fans by crushing his post-draft interview. Not only did he go out of his way to praise everyone around him for their help getting him to this moment, but he was able to describe his game perfectly when asked what player the Cardinals were getting.

"They're getting a baller, man, I can do it all. I can do a little bit of everything and I'm a learner, so I'm super excited to see what the Cardinals can do to make me a better player and I'm just excited to be a Cardinal."

Wetherholt knows that he can easily be a five-tool talent, but also has room to improve. He's here to play hard, learn, and put all of his trust into the organization that drafted him.

The Cardinals are getting a great player here, and are getting a great person too. They should be as excited as Wetherholt is that he's wearing their uniform.