How Good Could Wong Be?

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haltz
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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

Post by haltz »

Lou Whitaker seems possible: career .276/.363/.426 117 OPS+.

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pioneer98
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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

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AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:Wong has always been frustrating. His swing is so damn smooth and his hands are so quick it seems like he should offensively produce a lot more than he has been at the mlb level. I can't remember a player I've ever seen where the numbers and eye test misaligned so greatly (just talking offense here).

Yeah, most of the players who meet the eye test but the numbers never materialize never make it out of the minors.

It would be cool if Wong could play well enough to lock down the position for the next few years, which is what I expected/hoped him to do all along. That would probably mean him being reliable for like ~3 WAR each year, and maybe have a career year in there of 4.5 or something before he starts declining.

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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

Post by Fat Strat »

haltz wrote:Lou Whitaker seems possible: career .276/.363/.426 117 OPS+.
Fantastic.

Whitaker topped 6 WAR twice.
'83 - .320/.380/.457, with a .341 BABIP (50 points above his career). That's a 130 wRC+ and 8.7 DEF for 6.0 WAR even.
'91 - .279/.391/.489, with a .263 BABIP (wow, that's crazy low, so imagine how good he could have been). 141 wRC+ and 12.1 DEF. 6.1 WAR.

Whitaker is better at almost everything than Wong, but it's a fun comp. He has over 68 career WAR and should absolutely be in the HOF.

I also always had Kolten Wong pegged as Orlando Hudson - .273/.341/.412. That original comp is holding up pretty well.

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CardsofSTL
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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

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Interesting stuff Fat...if you keep this up you may earn the GRB sighyoung Cup for poster of the year.

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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

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CardsofSTL wrote:Interesting stuff Fat...if you keep this up you may earn the GRB sighyoung Cup for poster of the year.
I thought Sigh just kept awarding that to himself.

I'm trying to write an "article" a week to keep in the practice of writing for non-academic purposes. Cardinals baseball and this forum allow that to happen on my own pace and interests. Writers gotta write.

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CardsofSTL
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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

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Fat Strat wrote:
CardsofSTL wrote:Interesting stuff Fat...if you keep this up you may earn the GRB sighyoung Cup for poster of the year.
I thought Sigh just kept awarding that to himself.

I'm trying to write an "article" a week to keep in the practice of writing for non-academic purposes. Cardinals baseball and this forum allow that to happen on my own pace and interests. Writers gotta write.
Sigh just wins it so much that it was named after him. Like most awards; the winner is determined by an intricate game of Go Fish that the moderators play using only half a deck of pinochle cards.

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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

Post by heyzeus »

Fat Strat wrote:
CardsofSTL wrote:Interesting stuff Fat...if you keep this up you may earn the GRB sighyoung Cup for poster of the year.
I thought Sigh just kept awarding that to himself.

I'm trying to write an "article" a week to keep in the practice of writing for non-academic purposes. Cardinals baseball and this forum allow that to happen on my own pace and interests. Writers gotta write.
Have you considered joining JL at Vive El Birdos? I'm serious, your stuff would fit in excellently there.

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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

Post by Fat Strat »

heyzeus wrote:
Fat Strat wrote:
CardsofSTL wrote:Interesting stuff Fat...if you keep this up you may earn the GRB sighyoung Cup for poster of the year.
I thought Sigh just kept awarding that to himself.

I'm trying to write an "article" a week to keep in the practice of writing for non-academic purposes. Cardinals baseball and this forum allow that to happen on my own pace and interests. Writers gotta write.
Have you considered joining JL at Vive El Birdos? I'm serious, your stuff would fit in excellently there.
Yes and no. I don't really want my hobbies to turn into obligations. It takes some of the fun and a lot of the flexibility out of it. We'll see where I am next year when I finish my doctorate. I am also trying to write regularly for our publishers - sites, magazines, and even books. Then there's my real job. And I also plan to start teaching adjunct soon. Not sure where writer for VEB would fit it, but I've definitley thought about it.

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Medwick's_Ghost
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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

Post by Medwick's_Ghost »

The Kolton triple won it for us. I would have bet we were gonna lose that game. Good to see Lyons get a clutch single instead of a K trying to hit one to the moon!

Every time Matheny moved Wong up in the lineup to capitalize on a hot streak, Kolton would collar and get moved back down quick-like. Moving hitless blunder, Fowler, to 8th would help. Keep Wong and Bader back to back and send Dexter to his laboratory for a pinch hitter late.

BTW Wong is second in SLG% right now.

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Re: How Good Could Wong Be?

Post by Jocephus »

Lava: I once made a bet that Kolten Wong would never clear the following triple slash line: .300/.360/.440 across 400+ PA’s in a single season. I won’t say what I bet, but I have a lot riding on this. He’s off to a really good start this year; am I in trouble? Was Mike Matheny holding him back?


Craig Edwards: I think it is fair to think Matheny held him back some given his playing time early on when Wong was developing. As to the bet, I think the average is going to be the most difficult bar, though I should note that if Wong combined his BABIP from 2017 with his walks and power numbers from last year, he would basically meet that mark. You probably shouldn’t make these kind of bets with a lot riding on them. Hope that advice serves you well.

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