Another Year Consistent For St. Louis Cardinals’ Jhonny Peralta and Kolten Wong?

For the past few years… maybe for the last decade even … the St. Louis Cardinals haven’t had been very consistent when it comes to their middle infield tandem.

We’ve seen everyone from Brendan Ryan, Tyler Greene, Aaron Miles, Skip Schumaker, Mark Grudzielanek, Ryan Theriot, Pete Kozma, Daniel Descalso, Rafael Furcal and Matt Carpenter to name a few. I’ll wait for your eyes to stop twitching now! While there have been some fun players, there has been no one that makes you say hold the horn, that double play tandem is amazing.

Until the past couple of seasons that is…

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There is a lot to be pleased with concerning Jhonny Peralta and Kolten Wong.

Jhonny Peralta came into the organization with a hell of a lot of skepticism. He’s older. He’s had a PED suspension. Could he still hit? That PED suspension. Does he have the range to play shortstop? Did I mention the PED suspension?

A month or two into the season, most of those concerns were washed away. He could hit. He had good range. That PED suspension will forever concern many. Then another concerned developed. He isn’t consistent at the plate. Very streaky at the plate and that’s just concerning.

But, consider this? Peralta ended the season with a 5.4 WAR (wins above replacement). Boom. What concerns!

We can just hope that another season with the Cardinals and getting used to National League pitching will help him tremendously.

And then there is Kolten Wong. Young guy with tremendous potential.

He started out very slow and even had to be sent to Memphis for a few games to work on things with the Triple A Redbirds. Work on things, he did. He came back with confidence, power, confidence and intensity. Did I mention confidence?

Wong ended up giving fans of the St. Louis Cardinals a lot of wonderful memories. Dramatic homers, some even walk-off homers in huge moments. After seeing the reception he received at a Cardinals Caravan event earlier this month, it’s safe to say he is a fan favorite.

One year together down. Many more to come? Well, what can we expect from the duo this season?

According to a report from Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, “This year will hopefully be better for me because now I know the league, I know a lot of the pitchers in the division, so things are going to be more comfortable for me at the plate,” Peralta said. “Hopefully the RBIs come more [easily] for me.”

I think it will happen for Jhonny.

And Kolten?

He told Langosch: “I’m just going to come in confident,” Wong said. “Now it’s time for me to fully buy in to the fact I’m a big league player.”

Hmmm….

Get bought Kolten! You are a big leaguer. Enjoy it!

So, with another year together, I think these two can only get better together. I can’t wait to watch it unfold.