St. Louis Cardinals: In praise of Kolten Wong

2019 was the year that finally saw St. Louis Cardinals’ second baseman, Kolten Wong, show all the tools he had. How good was he and how can he build off that for 2020?

We come to praise Kolten Wong, not bury Mike Matheny. But one can hardly achieve the former without a bit of the latter. Last year, the St. Louis Cardinals’ 28-year-old second baseman enjoyed his finest overall season, batting .285 with a .784 OPS, stealing 24 bases in 28 attempts, and winning his first Gold Glove as well as a Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award as the best second baseman in either league.

It was a long time coming. Former first-round draft picks who zip through the minors usually need just a few years of major league ball to suggest that they’re A) darn good starters; B) competent role players; or C) not good enough. But Wong’s years from ages 23 to 27 kept everyone guessing. He was mostly okay, sometimes better than that, but something seemed to hold him back.

Maybe the something was a someone — manager Matheny. From 2014 to 2017, Wong had 406 at-bats a year to prove his worth as a hitter, plus 523 yearly fielding chances to show his skill at second base. The youngster proved that he could play, but there were just enough blips to make a dubious manager doubt him — or prefer someone else. Prone to slumps, Wong batted .103 in June of 2014, .202 in August of ’15, and .170 in September of ’17. And he led all NL second basemen with 17 errors in 2015 — eight more than anyone else.

Maybe Matheny had cause to occasionally favor Mark Ellis or Jedd Gyorko (who did hit 30 homers in 2016) to Wong. What we know is that despite injuries to his left elbow and right triceps, Wong had what looked like a breakout year in 2017, batting .285 with a .788 OPS. Then he slumped through the first half of 2018, batting .213 with a .665 OPS. Then he revived after Matheny was fired on June 14th. With Mike Shildt as his manager, Wong hit .317 with an .823 OPS in the second half of the season.

Wong initially spoke kindly of his first big-league skipper. Matheny “was one of the last guys to try to keep this game old school,” he told Peter Baugh of the Tribune News Service a few days after the manager change. Wong may have meant that as a compliment but one can read “old school” as code for “managers who ignore metrics and evidence and just do what they want.”

Clearly, though, the manager change made a difference. “Shildt came in and it gave me that flexibility to be myself and play my game,” Wong told Chuck King of the Associated Press in March of 2019. As for Matheny? “I will just say the leash wasn’t too long for me,” the second baseman said. “It’s tough to play when you have that kind of pressure.”

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The question now is can Wong, who just turned 29, keep it up? Can he be even better? And where should he bat in the order? Last year Wong had his best success in the second spot, hitting .309 with an .838 OPS in 106 plate appearances. His speed and baserunning skill, his left-handed bat on a righty heavy team, occasional power, and last year’s team-high .361 on-base average (among regulars) should make him an ideal second-place hitter — if he doesn’t regress.

And there it is, that worry that the historically streaky Wong could falter in 2020. Stories have been written that suggest the Cards should trade him now while his value is high, to fill other team needs and make room at second for Tommy Edman. Wong is the rare Redbirds non-pitcher of this millennium to arrive with expectations and persevere and improve, but it seems that some fans have a little Matheny in them. They don’t quite trust Mr. Wong.

They should. While nothing is assured in this game, Wong is a Gold Glove second baseman with B-plus offensive numbers. When did the Cardinals last see his equal at second? Maybe Tommy Herr in the ’80s, but Wong is a better fielder. Since 1960, only three St. Louis second basemen generated a higher WAR than Wong’s 4.7 in 2019 — Herr in 1985 (5.6 WAR, 110 RBI), Jose Oquendo in 1989 (5.4) and Matt Carpenter in 2013 (6.5).

In the 20 years before Wong took over, St. Louis sifted through a long series of starting second basemen: Oquendo, Luis Alicea, Delino DeShields, Joe McEwing, Fernando Vina, Bo Hart, Tony Womack, Mark Grudzielanek, Aaron Miles, Skip Schumaker, Daniel Descalso and Carpenter. Sure, Edman has promise should Wong depart, but why tinker with success? Plus, Edman will be needed at third should the 34-year-old Carpenter struggle as he did a year ago.

Signed through 2020 with a team option for ’21, Wong is due to make $10.25 million next year and $12.5 mil in ’21. That’s a bargain for a player of his worth. And despite Matheny’s occasional puttering with the position, second base has been the club’s second-most stable spot, after catcher, in recent years. In fact, since Yadier Molina broke in as the Cards’ full-time catcher in 2004, only one home-grown player has been a consistent starter at one position — Wong.

Maybe it hasn’t sunk in yet, but Kolten Wong has become an outstanding player. The Cardinals are lucky to have him.