Cardinals rookie JJ Wetherholt is giving Pirates fans a hometown headache

JJ Wetherholt is quickly becoming the kind of player Pittsburgh Pirates fans hate for all the wrong reasons.

Not because he’s unlikeable — but because he is a Pittsburgh-area kid, a former Mars Area High School standout, a West Virginia University product and now, somehow, a St. Louis Cardinals rookie already making life miserable for the team he grew up watching.

Wetherholt’s latest reminder came Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, when he turned on a Mitch Keller changeup and sent it over the wall for a two-run homer that put the Cardinals ahead in a game they would go on to win in extra innings. Keller said afterward that he meant to locate the pitch down and away, and even admitted he was “kind of in shock” that it kept carrying.

This was not Wetherholt’s first time tormenting Pittsburgh. Last month at PNC Park, he collected six hits in four games against the Pirates, including three doubles and two home runs. For a rookie still introducing himself to the National League Central, he has wasted very little time making an impression — especially against the club that plays closest to home.

Pirates are watching Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt become their worst local nightmare

Wetherholt was selected seventh overall by the Cardinals in 2024, just two picks before the Pirates took Konnor Griffin. This is certainly not a referendum on Griffin, who remains one of the most exciting young players in the sport and a massive part of Pittsburgh’s future. But it does create an unavoidable subplot every time Wetherholt does damage against the Pirates.

He was right there. He was local. He was familiar. And now he is wearing Cardinals red while launching baseballs against Pittsburgh pitching. That is nightmare fuel for a fan base already conditioned to notice every player who got away, every hometown connection that ended up elsewhere and every division rival who seems to find ways to make the Pirates pay.

Wetherholt’s ninth homer of the season also placed him among the top rookie power producers in baseball, further reinforcing that St. Louis may have landed an impact bat with staying power.

For the Pirates, the bigger issue is obvious: Wetherholt is not going anywhere. He has established himself as a mainstay in their division rival's lineup. And if the first few meetings are any indication, he may spend the next several years reminding Pittsburgh exactly where he came from.

Pirates fans love a good hometown story. They just prefer when it is not happening at their expense.

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