He may as well have been in the batter’s box.
Cardinals rookie JJ Wetherholt earned some scorn from A’s announcer Dallas Braden after the ex-pitcher claimed the second baseman made an “egregious” mistake in standing too close to the plate while waiting in the batter’s box in the ninth inning of the Cardinals’ 5-4 road win Thursday.
“At this point, Wetherholt is in the batter’s box. My goodness,” Braden said while Victor Scott II batted with the A’s ahead, 4-3, with a runner on first and one out.
“I’ll be honest, frankly, I’m surprised that nobody has said anything. Because that’s egregious.”
Wetherholt, the rookie phenom, situated himself noticeably in the grass area, with Braden going off when the NBC Sports California broadcast showed an overhead shot of Scott and Wetherholt could be soon.
A zoomed shot from the third-base line then showed Wetherholt right behind Scott, notably standing to the left of the pitch count clock.
NBC play-by-play man Chris Caray then said before the 2-2 offering: “You think he can hear you from there, buddy?”
Braden responded: “He can probably smell my breath.”
Moments later, the officials finally interjected with first base umpire Bill Miller calling time before the 3-2 pitch to yell toward Wetherhold, seemingly saying, “Back up,” while motioning his hand to do so.
A look at how Wetherholt was to the plate before being warned. @awfulannouncing/X “Now he tells him, ‘JJ, back up.’ Finally,'” Caray said while Wetherholt slowly walked back toward the on-deck decal, although he still stopped noticeably short.
Braden followed: “It’s about time. My goodness. Technically he’s got about eight at-bats today.”
Scott then lined out before Wetherholt extended the game by reaching base after being hit by a pitch, setting the stage for Ivan Herrera’s game-tying RBI single and Jordan Walker’s go-ahead RBI double.
Umpire Bill Miller tells the Cardinals infielder to back up. Despite an 0-for-3 in the series-clinching win, Wetherholt is slashing .244/.364/.421 with eight homers and 22 RBIs in 43 games, posting a 2.3 bWAR.
His brilliance has helped the Cardinals to a surprising 25-18 start.
