Kolten Wong’s trip to the disabled list started, innocently enough, while he was swinging in the on-deck circle. ADVERTISING Kolten Wong’s trip to the disabled list started, innocently enough, while he was swinging in the on-deck circle. If the St.
Kolten Wong’s trip to the disabled list started, innocently enough, while he was swinging in the on-deck circle.
If the St. Louis Cardinals’ second baseman has his way, the pop he felt in his left elbow won’t keep him out for long.
“Trying to let (the injury) run its course right now and understand that eventually it’s going to heal up,” Wong told MLB.com. “Keep working, keep myself in shape for the season. When 10 days are up, I want to be ready to play.”
The earliest Wong can return to action is June 6 at Cincinnati, and he received positive news earlier this week when an MRI revealed no structural damage in his elbow.
One of the few Cardinals hitting up to his norm, the injury was ill-timed for St. Louis (25-25), which had lost 10 of 13 before rallying for a 2-1 victory Wednesday at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After being mired in a early season slump, Wong was hitting .278 when the Cardinals finally decided to shut him down last Saturday in a game against the Rockies. He suffered his injury May 20 while preparing for an at-bat but started three more games.
“Strained tendon in my elbow and just some scar tissue, that was the reason why I was hearing that popping noise every time, I was feeling the sensation,” Wong said. “I don’t want to play through injury anymore. I tried for that week, and I had some success, but it was there the whole time and finally just tightened up again.”
While Wong rehabbed his injury, his younger brother, Kean, was getting resituated to Triple-A. A day after getting called back up to Durham, Wong already had three games under his belt with the Bulls. In 12 games at Double-A Montgomery, Wong hit .222. He started the season with the Tampa Bay Ray’s top minor league affiliate, hitting .266 in 23 games at second base with the Bulls.
Kean Wong could have a path to regular playing time again with Durham after Jake Hager, a 2011 first-round pick by the Rays, was put on the DL with a fractured foot.
Bulls manager Jared Sandberg told Tribune News Service that Hager would be out four to six weeks.
