On multiple occasions Saturday evening, Joe Buck told a national viewing audience on FS1 that Kolten Wong was – and I’m paraphrasing here – a talented baseball player that will be an impactful part of the Cardinals for some time to come.
Wong promptly supermaned a play to his right to punctuate probably the best win of the Cardinals season so far and we all kind of made a mental note – this could be the play that kickstarts Wong’s 2016.
Today he was optioned to AAA Memphis.
https://twitter.com/Anna__McDonald/status/739963020319719425
So, uh, no. I guess it wasn’t.
John Mozeliak hinted last week that Wong might not be getting nearly as many ABs as he had been when they activated Jhonny Peralta from the DL, so it appears that they would rather have him play every day in the minors than sit idle on the bench.
From a short-term perspective, it makes sense.
Wong is batting .222 with 1 HR and 5 RBIs on one of the best offenses in baseball. He has just 3 hits in his last 11 games played. With Aledmys Diaz continuing to shine and Matt Carpenter being Matt Carpenter, Wong was the odd man out.
Long term, though?
This is an ego blow.
With the departure of Jason Heyward from the middle of the Cardinals lineup, Wong was expected to carry a bigger role in the offense. He was rewarded with a 5-year, 25 million dollar contract as a signal to everyone that his contributions were transitioning from nice surprises into expectations.
A few months on and he’s back in Memphis as one of the highest paid Redbirds.
No one has ever questioned Wong’s desire to win. He’s one of the few players that takes a bad error at second or hitting into a double play as hard as Cardinals Twitter. Several times this season you almost wanted to reach through the TV and give the guy a hug. Tell him it’s going to be OK.
Hopefully he’ll spend this stint – however long it is – learning to have a bit more fun. I don’t ever think he’s going to be Carlos Martinez’s improv partner, but by realizing that 25M has set him and his family up pretty well for life, maybe he can get back to just playing some ball and letting the bad plays melt away.
Kolten Wong is a guy you want to root far. A guy you want Joe Buck to be right about. And he still can be.
As long as he learns to let the bad stuff go.
Oh, and this?
June 17th is Kolten Wong jersey day at Busch Stadium. Hmmm. @KSDKSports #cardinals
— Frank Cusumano (@Frank_Cusumano) June 7, 2016
I’m sure that will get sorted out
Photo: Fantasy Team Advice
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