Kolten Wong: 2016 VEB Projections

Editor's Note: Two years ago, Site Manager Ben Humphrey asked readers to provide predictions for Cardinals baseball players. Last year, he renewed that request, and although Ben is in blogger retirement, we at VEB are re-renewing the request to predict how the Cardinals will do.

We will not get to every player on the 40-man roster, but we will get to most. There will not be a defined order for the players, but players most assured of playing time will go first so we can let some of Spring Training play out. We will ask for standard stats. For hitters: Plate Appearances, Home Runs, RBI (gasp!), Runs, Batting Average, On-Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, and WAR. As trying to figure wOBA on is very difficult, we will use a rough approximation based on OBP and SLG ((1.7*OBP+SLG)/3). For pitchers: Starts, Games, Innings Pitched, K/9, BB/9, ERA, FIP, WAR, and Saves.

Next up: Kolten Wong

Kolten Wong has been roughly average for the Cardinals since his debut during the 2013 season--slightly below average as a hitter, plus slightly above average fielding at second base--and it can be tough to decipher whether that is a disappointment or promising. Average production for the major league minimum salary at an up-the-middle position at 23 and 24 years of age is certainly promising, but it is tough to look at his stats and hope for something more. From July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015, Wong hit .277/.325/.454 with 20 home runs and a wRC+ of 115 in 571 plate appearances, but his seasonal numbers took a dive with a poor second half.

John Fleming recently took an interesting look at young second basemen to look for the elite players and whether Kolten Wong could emerge from the group. I took a look at the possibility of Kolten Wong in the leadoff spot should Matt Carpenter be moved down in the order, and Ben Markham looked at the potential for a breakout.

His FanGraphs player page with Steamer projection can be found here while the Cardinals ZiPS can be found here.

What do you think Kolten Wong will do in 2016?

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