JJ Wetherholt has been looking forward to this weekend.
The West Virginia University sophomore second baseman, a 2021 Mars graduate, said he is intrigued to see how his team stacks up against Big 12 competition when the Mountaineers (19-6) kick off a three-game series Friday against Kansas State (18-9) at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan., to open conference play.
“I’ve definitely been super excited all year, that’s where you find out how good you are as a team,” Wetherholt said. “Competition ramps up really hard, and we’ve been preparing really hard, so I think we’ll ramp up with the competition as well.”
The rest of the Big 12, however, may not be so excited to see him.
The 5-foot-10, 190-pound left-handed leadoff hitter, now in his second season as an everyday player, has a team-best .462 batting average, which is good for sixth best in the nation. His 48 hits are tops across Division I baseball.
“We aren’t surprised with what he’s doing right now,” West Virginia coach Randy Mazey said. “He’s been like this for the last six months in our program. Just the maturity from this season to last season we knew what was getting ready to happen before the season started.”
Wetherholt has also racked up 32 runs, 12 doubles, 6 home runs and 30 RBIs to go along with an impressive 1.305 OPS, .769 slugging percentage and .536 on-base percentage through the Mountaineers’ first 25 games.
“You always have aspirations of guys doing that, but realistically it doesn’t happen all that much,” Mazey said of the fast start to Wetherholt’s career. “We knew he was a great player, but everyone we sign we think they’re great players.
“Some guys take off sooner than others,” Mazey added. “His mentality and his desire to be good, his intelligence, the way he handles himself off the field, that’s a lesson we try to teach all the players. If you want to have success early in your career, that’s how you do it.”
Wetherholt played in 54 games for the Mountaineers as a freshman last spring, starting 53, mostly at third base. He was named All-Big 12 honorable mention and was placed on the conference’s all-freshman team after hitting .308 with 5 home runs, 39 RBIs, a team-leading 17 doubles, 1 triple and 15 stolen bases.
“His balance, his timing, his ability to use the whole field, he has power, he has speed, he does everything that we teach everybody to do,” Mazey said. “He can hit home runs to left center. He can hit home runs to right field. He just sprays the ball around and does everything you could possibly ask.”
Mazey said Wetherholt’s consistency has been impressive.
“Nobody’s ever been perfect at baseball or hit 1.000 or anything,” Mazey said. “The law of averages dictates that you’re not going to get hits every time you’re up there. He’s been really good at handling the times he hasn’t had success, and that’s why those times have been so limited.”
Maturity has also been critical for Wetherholt as a sophomore.
“I’d say the game slows down just a tick,” he said of his second season competing in Division I. “You get more comfortable in different situations, pressure situations, and things like that. You play a little bit looser because you never knew where you stand on the team [as a freshman]. I have more confidence and understanding of the game.”
Making slight tweaks like shortening his swing with two strikes has helped as well.
“I think that’s helped me get a higher contact rate with two strikes,” Wetherholt said.
After playing third base for much of his freshman campaign, Wetherholt has locked down second base for the Mountaineers in 2023.
Moving back to the position he grew up playing has also paid dividends this spring.
“A mentality for a baseball player is the most important thing,” Mazey said. “If you have a sense of comfort where you’re playing that makes a huge difference. He played third base for us last year, but he didn’t grow up as a third baseman. He’s just more accustomed to what he’s been doing his whole life and that goes a long way, having that sense of comfort when you come to the field every day.”
And Wetherholt is hoping he and his teammates can come to the field as many days as possible, which would mean completing his goal of making a trip well into the NCAA postseason.
West Virginia last advanced to the NCAA regionals when it hosted the round in 2019.
“I would honestly just say us getting to a regional or hopefully a super [regional] — or hopefully Omaha,” he said. “It’s a chain reaction, but we’ve got to take one step at a time — just playing baseball as late as we can.”
With all of his early success, discussion of Wetherholt getting to another level has only become natural.
Not that Mazey or Wetherholt are ready to think about that yet.
“This isn’t a great time to be thinking about that,” Mazey said of his player’s MLB draft prospects. “It’s a little early in his career to be thinking that way, but human nature tells you you’re probably going to be thinking that way at some point.
“If you get distracted by that stuff it can affect you in a negative way,” the coach added. “He’s done a great job of staying focused on what we’re trying to do and taking every day as it comes to him. We’re trying not to put any undo pressure on anybody.”
And that’s just fine by Wetherholt.
“Yeah, that’s the dream goal for me so I hope that happens,” he said. “I’m not eligible until next year. I’ve still got a long ways to go, but that’s definitely my goal.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.