Kolten Wong: A season of learning

MILWAUKEE — Baseball players are notorious for being superstitious.

So when St. Louis Cardinals traveling secretary C.J. Cherry was seen in the team’s clubhouse wearing a “WON6 GONE” T-shirt on Monday, and then the shirt’s namesake, Kolten Wong, went out and collected a home run and a single against the Milwaukee Brewers, the shirt was certainly going to be worn the following game.

“Yesterday, he put it on and he said, ‘You know, I have a good feeling that you’re going to do something today, so I’m going to wear this shirt,’” Wong said Tuesday before the Cardinals’ game at Miller Park. “It was kind of funny because I actually hit the home run.”

It was important for Wong to have a big day at the plate after his recent stretch on the bench. The Hilo native hadn’t started in the previous eight games and only appeared in his seventh game in August. Wong was sent down to Triple-A for a quick stint, and recently he has been replaced in the lineup by a rotation of power-hitting infielders.

It’s not a situation the former Kamehameha-Hawaii and University of Hawaii standout has ever had to deal with.

“Coming through pro baseball, I was kind of put in spots to play every day,” Wong said. “I was kind of penciled in as the second baseman of the future. Obviously, this year has been a tough year for me to accept the fact that I wasn’t going to be an everyday player. I play this game to be an everyday player – I love this game. To not have that happen was definitely tough.”

Coming off a campaign in 2015 where he hit .262, the Cardinals awarded the 25-year-old with a five-year extension worth $25.5 million, presumably locking down their everyday second baseman.

“I told myself that instead of me feeling sorry for myself for not getting a chance, I’m going to make them give me a chance,” Wong said. “I’m going to work as hard as I can. Put in the work – offense, defense, hit as much as I can to show that, hey, I want my starting spot back. If I get a chance, I’ll show you guys.”

Getting to start at second base Monday was a shot Wong needed. He went 2-for-4 with his third home run of the season, two RBIs and a stolen base. His performance earned him another start Tuesday as Cardinals manager Mike Matheny wanted to keep Wong’s hot bat in the lineup. Matheny is hoping the game will give Wong a spark of confidence to play better down the stretch.

“Everybody that gets an opportunity and then has a little success, just hopefully it compounds and continues to be the right atmosphere for continued success,” Matheny said. “He’s a talented player and we need him and everybody else we have to be in a good spot – yesterday was a good step.”

After a 1-for-3 day Tuesday, Wong was batting .241 with three home runs, 16 RBI and 32 runs scored.

“Hopefully it gets him jump-started and he builds on that and continues going forward,” Cardinals All-Star infielder Matt Carpenter said.

Getting in swing

At the beginning of the season, Wong wanted to make the adjustments to be a consistent big league hitter. To help him with his swing, Wong watched videos of current and former players, including Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and Mookie Betts.

“I went over every single guy and tried to see what they all do in common and why they succeeded as much as they did,” Wong said.

For players such as Bonds, a hulking home run hitter, Wong wasn’t looking at how to hit a longball, but Bonds’ swing as a function and how it worked.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best idea because I ended up being where I am today,” said Wong about his swing adjustments. “But I think now at this point in the season, if you ask me if it was a smart decision, I’ll tell you, ‘Yes.’ I understand my swing now. I understand what each swing’s supposed to do. I understand what each body part is supposed to work in the swing. Before this year, if you asked me about my swing, I would tell you that I’m just trying to see a strike and hit it.”

While he’s trying to get back on the right track at the plate, he certainly doesn’t want to take another step backward. Wong was hitting just .222 on June 5 when he got optioned to Triple-A Memphis. In seven minor league games, he hit .429 with four home runs and 11 RBIs.

“I think I just got sent down because there were too many guys up here at that time,” Wong said. “I felt like everything was working right, my swing was working right. I just needed to play. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to get any playing time, so mostly it was just to keep me fresh and playing every day and getting as much at-bats as I can. Up here, it didn’t look like I was going to be getting any more.”

When Wong was demoted to Triple-A, he was told he might play some center field for the Cardinals when he was called back. It’s a position Wong played for one season at Hawaii, but he was led to believe he would see the field more often.

“Making that transition, I told myself I was going to do anything I needed to get back to being an everyday player,” said Wong, who started in seven games in center field. “Coming back, I got a couple starts and then ended up not starting again. It was tough.”

A ‘blessing’

Frustration mounted as Wong found himself sitting on the bench, not knowing one day to the next if he was going to be in the lineup. However, he learned to take it all in stride.

“People might look at it as a bad year, but I look at it as a blessing in disguise,” Wong said. “I got to learn a lot about myself on a personal standpoint and I got to face adversity and understand that I need to face adversity head-on instead of making excuses.”

Cardinals’ teammate and longtime friend Greg Garcia, who played at Hawaii with Wong, said Wong has always faced adversity the right way. Garcia called such an even-keeled, laid-back player and person, that you would never be able to tell from his demeanor if he was hitting .300 or .230.

“Kolten to me, I’ve always watched him play, he always rises to the occasion,” Garcia said. “It seems like the bigger the stage, the better he plays type of thing. I just expect him to finish the season out strong like he is and be a great player for this organization for five years and down the road after that.”

Off the field

It’s been a hectic year away from the diamond. In November of last year, Wong married his longtime girlfriend, Alissa, at a ceremony in Oahu.

About six or seven current and former teammates of Wong’s made the trip to Hawaii for the wedding. Garcia, who stood up for Wong in the ceremony, said the wedding was “beautiful and awesome.”

“We all got to relax and kind of reflect on the season and not even talk about baseball – talk about something other than baseball for once,” said Garcia, who will have Wong in his wedding when he gets married in the near future.

For all the turbulence he’s seen on the field, he has a steadying force off of it.

“I’m married to a wonderful girl, a beautiful girl that has been there for me through this whole time,” Wong said. “When I went to Memphis, she dropped everything and went to Memphis with me. She traveled with me the whole way and was just my moral support.”

Wong, who has a home in St. Louis, did a lot of traveling last offseason and was back in Hawaii a number of times between the wedding and visiting family and friends. This offseason, he is planning on staying in St. Louis.

“Where I can put all my focus on baseball and my marriage,” Wong said.

Of course, he’s hoping his offseason is cut short as the Cardinals are in the midst of a playoff push. The team is trying to qualify for the postseason for the sixth-straight year and is 2 ½ games up of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the second National League wild-card spot (as of Aug. 31).

“When Kolten’s going good like he is now, the guy’s an All-Star,” Garcia said. “He’s going to be an All-Star in his career; he’s going to put up great numbers. He’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable talent. … He’s going to be a huge piece to us playing in October.”

That’s music to Wong’s ears – he just needs to be given an opportunity.

“Hopefully getting consistent ABs and hopefully I can stay in the lineup for a little while and try to help,” Wong said. “I’m just still learning as a hitter and that’s the only thing I’m going to take from the season is I know I learned a lot about myself as a player and as a hitter.

“You’ve just got to understand that you’re still a good player. I know that I didn’t do anything wrong.”