West Virginia’s projected highest-selected position player of all time is leaving the Mountaineers as the face of several historic moments for the program.
Junior shortstop JJ Wetherholt will enter the MLB Draft this July, ending his role in a historic era of WVU Baseball. As WVU’s first Big 12 Player of the Year winner, the current seventh overall prospect of 2024 according to MLB.com, and now a member of WVU’s first regional championship team, Wetherholt has made an impact in Morgantown, to say the least.
Wetherholt’s three-year career has been a fluid one with West Virginia. From a day-one talent in the infield to securing an official position at second base as a sophomore superstar to facing injury and falling draft stock as a first-time shortstop as a junior, change was one of the few consistencies for Wetherholt off the field.
Success does not come without hardships, Wetherholt found. After earning first overall draft pick projections before the season, Wetherholt suffered an injury against Stetson in the first series of the season. After returning halfway through the year, though, Wetherholt maintained a top-10 draft projection and marked several fielding highlights, but this did not come without general recovery troubles.
One source of consistency, however, was 12-year WVU head coach Randy Mazey, who recruited Wetherholt from Mars, Pa. in high school, won Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2022 alongside Wetherholt’s honor, and will leave WVU alongside Wetherholt after a super regional loss to North Carolina this season.
Mazey will not stop being by Wetherholt’s side post-WVU, either, the four-time Coach of the Year across three different conferences assured.
“JJ knows that my relationship with him is not over,” Mazey said. “It’s just beginning.”
Having gone through three position changes, three successful regular seasons, and 10 postseason game losses, Wetherholt has more than earned this relationship with his coach. More than that, he has earned the praise of WVU fans worldwide.
“JJ Wetherholt has changed West Virginia Baseball forever,” coach Mazey said.
It is true. When Wetherholt came to Morgantown, the Mountaineers were nearly a decade into their membership in the Big 12, and aside from a pair of NCAA Regional appearances, they had failed to make their impact.
In just three years, though, Wetherholt helped WVU double its tournament appearances, won WVU’s first Big 12 Player of the Year award along with the Mountaineers’ first regular season title in the conference, and shined as WVU made the NCAA Super Regional for the first time in program history.
Individually, Wetherholt had several highlight moments with West Virginia, even in his shortened senior season. Wetherholt made several diving and jumping catches at shortstop in the postseason, hit two RBIs in WVU’s 11-1 win over Pitt at PNC Park, and fired a deep home run on national TV in an 18-7 victory over Penn State in May.
Statistically, Wetherholt ends his WVU career with a .955 fielding percentage, a .370 batting average (including a .449 average in 2023), 206 total hits, and 29 home runs. He leaves West Virginia as the face of what it means to be a two-way player and leaves his countless accomplishments in his trail on the way to the MLB.
With accomplishments, wins, stats, and what will likely be the highest draft selection of a Mountaineer in team history, JJ Wetherholt will be a tough name to replace or outdo for Mountaineers to come. His impact will be missed, but the Mountaineer’s journey through the big leagues to stardom will be closely followed by WVU fans for years to come.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
