The Cardinals’ Kolten Wong Continued His Crappy Year With A Faceplant For The Ages

It has been a rough 2016 season for Kolten Wong and, well, things did not get better for the St. Louis Cardinals youngster on Friday afternoon. As you can see above, Wong had an unfortunate face plant while trying to track down a ball struck by Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo and it allowed NL MVP front-runner Kris Bryant to cruise to home plate to extend the home team’s lead.

To be fair to Wong, this less than desirable moment did not singularly impact the game, as the Cubs pulled away to claim a 5-0 victory. However, the 25-year-old second baseman turned occasional outfielder has suffered through a brutal season in what looked to be a potential breakout year.

Just a few weeks before the 2016 campaign began, Wong agreed to a five-year, $25.5 million extension that will keep him in St. Louis through at least 2020. With that, the Cardinals appeared to be trying to capitalize on a young player with real upside before being forced to pay bigger dollars down the road, but Wong has actually regressed, posting career-lows in wRC+ (83), slugging percentage (.347) and batting average (.238) while losing playing time to other potentially less desirable players.

It is probably unfair to characterize this admittedly amusing blunder in left field as the perfect encapsulation of Kolten Wong’s season, but it’s just too easy. On the bright side for the Cardinals, Wong remains young and talented enough to provide at least a sliver of hope for improvement in the future.