JJ Wetherholt turns routine single into chaos as Cardinals rookie sparks viral moment

Suddenly, everybody was running. All three baserunners scored easily, and Wetherholt never slowed down as he rounded third and raced home standing up. Officially, the play went into the books as a single plus an error on Tatís. Unofficially, it became the latest viral “Little League grand slam” clip baseball fans couldn’t stop replaying.

According to MLB.com, Wetherholt joked afterward that it was “the most I've ran in probably four years.” He also admitted the result wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when he stepped into the box.

“I was really trying to hit the ball to left because I was really early on that guy,” Wetherholt said. “So that's not exactly what I wanted, but found a hole.”

Cardinals rookie keeps building his reputation

For Cardinals fans, Friday night felt like another snapshot of why the organization has such enormous expectations for Wetherholt moving forward. The former first-round pick already made headlines earlier this season when he homered in his MLB debut on Opening Day. He also became the first Cardinals rookie since 1949 to debut in the leadoff spot.

Now he has added a Little League grand slam to the résumé.

Even more impressive is how naturally the 22-year-old continues to fit into meaningful moments. The Cardinals entered Friday with a 22-15 record and have started climbing back into the National League race behind a mix of young talent and strong pitching performances. Wetherholt’s bizarre fifth inning provided the offense, while fellow rookie-era building block Michael McGreevy handled the rest.

McGreevy dominated the Padres lineup for six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out a career-high nine batters in front of dozens of friends and family members near his Southern California hometown.

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Even Wetherholt admitted the play felt ridiculous

The funniest part of the entire sequence may have been the Cardinals dugout reaction. As Wetherholt rounded third, the entire St. Louis bench reportedly started waving him home simultaneously. Cardinals manager Oli Marmol later joked the rookie had “30 third-base coaches” directing traffic during the play. Wetherholt also admitted after the game that he had experienced something similar once before during his college days at West Virginia.

Still, even he understood how bizarre Friday night’s play looked in real time.

“A no-doubt grand slam might be a little more exciting because you feel like you earned it more,” Wetherholt said. “But at the end of the day, four runs scored in a big spot.”

The Cardinals probably do not care how the runs looked on the scoreboard. They all counted the same.

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