There was much ruminating about the demotion of Kolten Wong just eleven days ago. First and foremost, his special jersey night was upcoming and if he was no longer on the team, that was just gonna be really awkward, right? Well the Cardinals managed to find a way to not only have Wong present for his Memphis jersey night scheduled a few days earlier, but also for him to make the MLB one as well by calling him up late-Friday morning.
— #VoteSTL (@Cardinals) June 17, 2016
Ironic.
Anyway, Wong seemed deserving of the call-up. In seven games, the infielder hit four home runs, with a .429/.526/.929 line, good for a 276 weighted runs created plus. Kolten was also able to get into a few games a centerfield, apparently playing the position well enough the Cardinals felt comfortable making their next move: demoting outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker.
Hazelbaker got off to a torrid start with the team, but has since cooled significantly, his slash line dropping all the way to .250/.286/.484 for a wRC+ of 103. The centerfielder has not be able to add much value with his glove, either, despite his speed, and according to fWAR, has been just replacement value.
The move adds further depth to an already bloated infield, but if Wong is able to adequately hold down centerfield and continue his impressive stretch of hitting, this should not be a problem. Hopefully #TheDemotionWorked again?
How much adversity must Kolten face until he is grizzled enough? This has gotta be it, right?