Benjamin Hochman asks, can Kolten Wong‘s defense justify his hitting?
There’s some pressure from upstairs to play Wong. The Cards signed him to a long-term deal. The Cards held on to him this offseason. The Cards’ general manager, John Mozeliak, has said in the past that he’s “bullish” on Wong.
But it isn’t like Wong is Mike Matheny himself. Tony La Russa said in his book that Matheny could bat .000, but the skipper would still play him, because Matheny was so important to the pitching staff. Wong has to get on base and be somewhat relevant offensively. But he’ll say he needs to play every day to get into his groove. And his manager is prone to playing producing players.
So, yeah, this will be interesting again.
The article seems to be judging Wong by batting average, which is the wrong measure. Wong owns a low career BABIP, .279, so he is unlikely to ever hit for a high average. His walk rate jumped last year, and he posted a .327 OBP. That’s absolutely fine for an outstanding defensive second baseman. At that rate, he’s not an out machine. In fact, he’s a bit above average.
Teams can do a lot worse than a one-WAR player batting eighth.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2oosuoF
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