There are good defenders in the game of baseball, and then there are players who simply steal runs from the other team. Kolten Wong belongs to the latter group.
Why does he belong there exactly? Well, in the past two years, Wong has saved the St. Louis Cardinals 35 runs at second base. That's usually a number saved for third or short, the hotter spots on the infield, but Wong changes the way one would normally view second base.
Wong can go to his left and steal a base hit destined for right field, or he can just load up the middle, stealing a liner sailing into center field. Here's something else: Wong can also handle the grounders hit directly at him. A problem on the simple plays no longer exists, as if an echo chamber suddenly disappeared inside Wong's head. He can do it all out there, but it wasn't always so free and clear for the veteran player.
In January, I wrote about the chip on Harrison Bader's shoulder as he answered questions resembling something that took place with Wong a few years ago. Most people will be able to connect the dots, starting a path towards former manager, Mike Matheny. The catcher-turned-skipper never truly allowed Wong to feel like second base belonged to him. Matheny seemingly leased the position out to him, hanging the pending slump over his head like an unpaid parking ticket.
When Matheny was fired, Wong was given free passage to second base. No one could take it away. Tommy Edman was red hot, but Mike Shildt placed him in the outfield at times instead of bumping Wong. It took an injury for Wong to collect less than 140 starts, but his work during his first year under Shildt showed what's on the horizon. It wasn't just the defense.
Wong slashed .285/.361/.423 at the plate last season, including 11 home runs and 25 doubles. Wong's 28 stolen bases were a career high, as were the 47 walks. The discipline and plan of attack at the plate that long eluded him was suddenly found just in time. There were times earlier in his career where there seemed to be a push and pull struggle with Wong at the plate. He wanted to hit every ball to the moon but couldn't make enough contact. He would go into slumps and then suddenly burst out of them with a big day. It was hit and miss ... until 2020.
What happened exactly? You can scour Fangraphs and it's not easy to see a huge difference right off the bat. Wong's line drive percentage didn't increase drastically. He stopped swinging at pitches out of the zone slightly, but didn't push the needle too far except for two spots: overall swing percentage and contact on pitches made inside the strike zone.
Fangraphs devises a few sly methods to figure out how often a player swings at certain pitches. O-swing percentage is the outside zone pitches where contact is made. Z-swing percentage tabulates the pitches where contact is made which were inside the strike zone. Wong's overall swing percentage went up 6% in 2019 while his swings/contact on inside pitches went up 4%. He's swung the bat more wisely in 2019.
He may have finally put the pieces together at the plate, but the glove work remains his niche. During a spring training game Tuesday, Wong practically committed highway robbery. He not only took away a surefire single up the middle, but made an unbelievable flip to the oncoming shortstop for the double play toss to first base. It's one of those web gems that you'll watch over and over again as the mundane game goes on. Thanks to masters like @cardinalsgifs, we can watch it tonight and tomorrow just as easily.
If Dakota Hudson had any sense, he'd go ahead and treat Wong to a steak dinner once a week for the entire calendar year.
Fun Fact: 2020 is the final year that Wong is under a guaranteed contract to play in St. Louis. The Cardinals hold an option for 2021, which will certainly be picked up. The former 1st round draft pick will turn 30 years old after the regular season concludes. If the Cardinals had any logical sense, they'd offer an extension right now to keep the human highlight reel in St. Louis for the near future.
For all the Edman honks out there, settle down. Let's see him repeat the 2019 performance before we dismantle positions and crown him the savior of all things that don't have to do with beard growth. He can play so many positions, it may be a disservice at this point to pigeon-hole Edman to one spot. First, he needs to show that MLB pitchers didn't adjust to him and that he's really that good. Afterwards, he can pick a more steady spot.
Wong's traits are Gold Glove certified now. The Rawlings trophy received in 2019 shouldn't be the last time something gold is shipped to his house. If Wong's play since Shildt took over is any indication, he should start the season near the top of the G.G. ballot just like Jack Flaherty should sit in the top 5 in the Cy Young award voting at the launch of spring.
He's a special talent and you want to keep those players around as long as you can.
According to Fangraphs, Wong's 3.7 WAR in 2019 was the highest of his career. One could make the prediction it will drop (Hint: Steamer already did), but what if it goes up? At the very least, Wong will save your team 10-15 runs in the field. There aren't many second basemen who can do that.
Once again, starting those contract talks sooner rather than later is ideal. Wong is open to it, so get it going. The Cardinals have plenty of question marks and uncertainties; Kolten Wong is no longer one of them. Make sure he sticks around.