Cardinals’ Kolten Wong snubbed as All-Star

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The announcement of the Major League Baseball All-Star teams was kind to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Almost.

Jhonny Peralta and Matt Holliday made the NL team as starters, and Yadier Molina, Michael Wacha and Trevor Rosenthal were added as reserves to give the Cards five players on the team.

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A sixth player should have been added.

Where was Kolten Wong?

Some people may say what about Matt Carpenter, but Todd Frazier (Cincinnati), Nolan Arenado (Colorado) and Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs) were all very deserving candidates.

Wong, in my humble opinion, was denied a chance to go when his stats clearly measured up.

Let’s review.

Dee Gordon, the fans’ pick for second base, seems like a no-brainer. His .339 average, 116 hits and 29 stolen bases are a prime reason why the Miami Marlins are afloat in the National League East.

D.J. LeMahieu is a .298-4-34 hitter with 10 stolen bases, and together with third baseman Nolan Arenado that infield is a cornerstone for the Colorado Rockies.

Joe Panik has turned out to be a surprise for the San Francisco Giants at second, as he is hitting .304-6-30 with 21 doubles.

Those are your three All-Star second basemen. Wong is hitting .279 with nine homers and 36 RBIs, yet his .443 slugging percentage is second among all NL second basemen. You could also argue his hitting is a big reason why the Cardinals are off to a strong start as the best team in baseball.

Yet Wong stays home.

Sometimes I can’t figure out the reasoning behind All-Star selections. Wong should have gone to the game. In his second full season, Wong has exploded into one of the finest second basemen in the game and vindicated the Cardinals’ faith in him.

There will be other All-Star games, people say.

The first one is always the sweetest. Now Wong will have to wait one more year.