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Why is hitting a baseball so hard? And do the Cardinals have some hitting prospects who can move their offensive needle sooner than later?

Our thoughts turned to JJ Wetherholt, the smooth infielder the Cardinals took with their first pick in last summer’s draft. Clearly, he is going to reach the big leagues and become an everyday player, but will he make a real impact?

Maybe, maybe not.

This team desperately needs more thump from the right side of the plate, something Ivan Herrera’s frequent injuries have exposed. Could the long-awaited breakout of outfielder Joshua Baez eventually address this weakness?

Maybe, maybe not.

The gang at FanGraphs offered its rundown of top Cardinals prospects and the particulars on Wetherholt and Baez explored some nuances of hitting and projected what these two prospects could someday become.

The assessments were somewhat encouraging, but both of these young men still have some work to do.

Eric Longenhagen and James Fagan had this take on Wetherholt:

Watching an endless parade of Wetherholt swings feels like efficient workflow, but it’s also excising a healthy majority of the pitches he sees from the process. The young man is a connoisseur of not swinging. His head stays still and his hands stay back even when his hips are bailing out toward the pull side, allowing him to track spin beautifully. Wetherholt can really stay on soft stuff low and away from him, but he’ll whiff on well-located fastballs up and in. The fastball vulnerability is pretty common for lefties in that location, but his ability to cover low and away is rare, and he deserves more credit for that unique ability than he does demerits for the flaw. This is a special hit tool, and making lots of good contact with very good swing decisions has been the bedrock of power overproduction for many prospects in the past. With that in mind, the top rung of Wetherholt’s exit velocities are presently below the big league average, and he’s a compact and tightly-wound 5-foot-10 athlete who does not offer much projection. He certainly can pull fastballs, but his game is geared more around spraying line drives all over the yard than seeking opportunities to turn it loose, although the feel for those moments can come with time. Wetherholt will certainly have the runway.

Now here is the FanGraphs take on Baez:

It’s been four years since this house of a man was plucked out of suburban Boston for a $2.25 million bonus. A raw power project who used to be a two-way player and a cold weather kid to boot, Baez needed a long runway to show progress, but things appear to be clicking after years of injuries and excessive whiffs. Baez’s stiff hips drive some of our larger hit tool skepticism, but he looks meaningfully more fluid out of his new upright stance. He has cut his in-zone whiffs such that they’re within shouting distance of league average, and he’s newly able to shut down his swing with two strikes. Relatedly, Baez is getting to his double-plus raw juice like never before; he’s one off his career-high of 11 home runs already and is producing 90th-percentile exit velocities north of 106 mph as a 22-year-old.

As good as Baez’s swing decisions have suddenly become, his improvements have made it more likely he reaches his power-over-hit potential more than they’ve altered his profile. His arms and swing path are long, and his best contact comes out and away from him; a passive approach where he waits out pitches in his crush zone feels like his future.

So we’ll have to see how these two progress before penciling them in for future Cardinals production.

Here is what folks have been writing about Our National Pastime:

Matt Sussman, Baseball Prospectus: “After back-to-back leadoff doubles (and shimmying out of a bases loaded quagmire in the first inning), (Mitch) Keller powered through with seven blank innings, completing a total of 27 team zeroes against the Cardinals in a three-game series. Paul Skenes managed to have the worst start of the three by game score. There’s a surprising amount of reasonable pitching depth in western Pennsylvania, the kind which makes trade deadline enthusiasts raise their eyebrows and wonder what people like Keller would look like in different-colored jerseys, as if Photoshop and more nefarious photo creation tools don’t exist.”

Andrew Simon, : “By his sky-high standards, Skenes has not been especially dominant of late. He’s averaged just five innings over his past four starts, walking 10 batters over those 20 innings. Even still, we’re talking about a stretch when he’s posted a 2.70 ERA and 2.44 FIP. Despite his highly misleading record (4-7), Skenes still leads the NL with a 2.03 ERA and 209 ERA+ for the season, holding opponents to a .278 slugging percentage.”

Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic: “The Texas Rangers continue to look like a seller, entering Wednesday with playoff odds of just 21 percent. So, considering the dearth of quality right-handed hitters likely to be available, right fielder Adolis García could emerge as a rather interesting trade candidate. García, 32, is under club control through next season. As a two-time All-Star and MVP of the 2023 ALCS, he remains popular with the team’s fans. But in late May, the Rangers held him out of their lineup for three straight games to work on mechanical adjustments. The pause seemed to help. García has been better since, batting .278 with a .761 OPS. But if he falters again in the second half, he conceivably could become a non-tender candidate. The Rangers would not be terribly thrilled about raising his salary from its current $10.5 million in arbitration if he produces a second straight sub-.700 OPS. García remains a strong defender. As long as he continues producing offensively, his trade value would be greater at the deadline than during the offseason or at next year’s deadline. The Rangers, leading the majors in ERA, have left-hander Patrick Corbin and a number of potential free-agent relievers performing fairly well, but otherwise lack attractive players on expiring contracts.”

Alden Gonzalez, : “It's not just that Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow have yet to rejoin the rotation. It's not just that Shohei Ohtani is stretched out to only a couple of innings. It's not just that Michael Kopech joined 11 other pitchers by landing on the injured list Tuesday. It's that the Dodgers remain at the top of the standings even while getting very little from two of their most important offensive contributors. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts combined to slash just .221/.293/.303 in the month of June. The Dodgers -- with their rotation shorthanded, their bullpen in flux and the top of their lineup compromised -- went 17-10 in June regardless.”

Brian Murphy, : “D-backs general manager Mike Hazen is planning on being a buyer at the Trade Deadline. He has said so in recent weeks. Repeatedly. And with Arizona just three games out of a playoff spot, there is still hope that Hazen's plan comes to fruition. But ultimately, the attrition may be just too heavy a burden. The D-backs are without their most dynamic position player, Corbin Carroll, due to a fractured left wrist, although there is a chance he could return before the All-Star break. They are also missing their best starting pitcher (Corbin Burnes) and best reliever (Justin Martinez) for the rest of the season as each has undergone Tommy John surgery. That bullpen, which has taken on numerous injuries, is also a chief reason why the D-backs lead the NL with 28 blown-lead losses. The 'pen will have to be addressed if they want to make a real push toward the postseason. But what makes Arizona so interesting is that if it does declare itself open for business, it could control the Deadline like no other club with its list of talented players on expiring contracts. Need a third baseman with 40-homer pop? Eugenio Suarez is on pace for 49 dingers. Across the infield, first baseman Josh Naylor is batting .303 with an .828 OPS. Starting pitcher Zac Gallen has had a rough campaign (5.65 ERA, career-low 21.9% strikeout rate), but he had a career 129 ERA+ entering 2025, including a 115 ERA+ last year. Rotation mate Merrill Kelly has fared better this year (3.55 ERA and 3.48 FIP over 104 innings), and both starters know what it's like to pitch in the World Series. Finally, reliever Shelby Miller, who has taken over for Martinez as Arizona's closer, owns a 2.09 ERA over 35 1/3 innings and a fantastic 36.1% chase rate.”

Megaphone

“He’s got the perfect approach with runners in scoring position: There’s gonna be contact. It’s really hard to strike him out. It’s his elite skill. The ability to make contact is not an exciting trait as a hitter, but it’s a valuable trait. It leads to runs getting scored.”

Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, on Nico Hoerner.