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We all know the story at this point. Mike Matheny hates Kolten Wong, or something like that. Over the past few years, Matheny had benched Wong enough times to make multiple trips to Memphis to “figure things out” or “get some confidence” or “experience adversity” or something to that effect.
Kolten Wong might well be what he is at this point, a slightly below average offensive player with a good glove at second base. How long he gets to play through a slump will go a long in determining whether the Cardinals emphasis on defense this offseason was real or simply lip-service.
Wong ended up last season with a .240/.327/.355 and an 85 wRC+ which isn’t very good. He received just 361 plate appearances and never was able to find consistent playing time. After his demotion in June, he hit an average 99 wRC+, although his high walk rate might have been boosted a little by hitting in the eight spot.
Find ZiPS here, Steamer here, and Baseball Prospectus ($) projections on their player pages.
How’s he going to do?
To enter more projections, go here.