NLDS Preview: Cubs vs. Cardinals Part One

Jun 27, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman
Kolten Wong
(16) reacts after tagging out Chicago Cubs right fielder
Mike Baxter(29) to end the fourth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Second Base:
Cardinals: Kolten Wong – Wong, as I mentioned on Tuesday has had a really tough second half. He wound up finishing the season with a .262 average and 11 homers, a total that could have been much better, but still not too bad for the second year player.
Cubs: Starlin Castro – Castro had a very similar season with a slightly higher average at .265 and 11 homers as well. Castro is normally a short stop, but his midseason struggles booted him from that position.
Advantage: This one is pretty tough to figure. However, taking recent play completely out of it and comparing the two players’ overall season side by side – the advantage slightly goes to the Cardinals’ Kolten Wong. The best statistic to look at here would be Fangraphs’ wRC+, Wong has a wRC+ of 96 (about average), whereas Castro has a below average wRC+ of 80 this season. Wong’s without a doubt the better defender at second, so the advantage is more clear at this point, but still pretty close.