Why JJ Wetherholt Should Be the No. 1 Overall Pick

Making the case for the Mountaineer star be the top pick in the draft.

Sunday evening, the 2024 MLB Draft will get underway and it shouldn't be a long wait for West Virginia shortstop JJ Wetherholt to hear his name called. Some mock projections have him going at No. 1 to the Cleveland Guardians. Florida 1B Jac Caglianone, Georgia 3B Charlie Condon, and Oregon State 2B Travis Bazzana are also among those in the conversation for Cleveland.

So, why should it be Wetherholt?

As good of a prospect Caglianone is, how often does a team draft and develop a first baseman into something special? Most first basemen in the MLB are converted from other positions and I'm not exactly sure why that's the case. It just is. I don't believe the Guardians are heavily considering Condon considering they have Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor manning the corner infield spots. Why draft a college bat that has a road block at his top two positions? So if it's down to Wetherholt and Bazzana, the numbers would tell you to go with Wetherholt who could sign under slot. Bazzana will likely go over slot.

The biggest difference between the two at the plate? Wetherholt just doesn't strikeout. He went down on strikes 82 times in three years at West Virginia while Bazzana struck out 146 times, nearly double the amount. Stack the two players side by side and keep in mind Wetherholt missed 24 games this past season.

Career College Stats	Wetherholt	Bazzana
AVG.	.370	.360
HR	29	45
RBI	129	165
OBP	.468	.497
SLG	.625	.660
SB	57	66

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