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Kolten Wong on fire for Milwaukee Brewers out of All-Star break

By Harrison Carter

Jul 31, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong (16) reacts after hitting a double against the Boston Red Sox during the second inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 31, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong (16) reacts after hitting a double against the Boston Red Sox during the second inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Since the trade deadline it has been hard to find a lot of positives for the Milwaukee Brewers. Although the Crew has struggled in recent days, Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong has found a groove.

In his 70 games before the All-Star break, Wong slashed .227/.313/.382, good for an OPS of .695. After the break, however, Wong has been superb at the plate, slashing .413/.472/.674 with eight extra base hits in 13 games, good for an OPS of 1.146.

So what’s caused the dramatic change in production for the Milwaukee Brewers Kolten Wong?

The honest answer is that there is nothing glaring that sticks out, but rather lots of marginal changes to some of his batted ball statistics.

From the start of the season to the All-Star break, Wong put over 42% of his batted balls on the ground, while since the All-Star break, that number was cut down to 35%. Wong has replaced some of his ground balls with line drives, as his amount of line drives increased almost 8% from pre-All-Star break to post-All-Star break.

Some of Wong’s success comes from simply hitting the ball harder. Since the All-Star break, Wong’s exit velocity is 91.2 mph compared to 86.8 mph before the All-Star break.

The percent of balls that Wong has barreled up has increased as well. Essentially, a ball that is barreled up usually is a ball that is hit more than 98 mph with a launch angle between 26-30 degrees. Wong has already barreled up three balls in the 13 games after the All-Star break when he barreled up seven balls in the 70 games beforehand.

Of course, some of Wong’s success has simply come from luck, as is common in baseball when hitters start to play well.

Wong’s batting average on balls in play (BABIP) since the All-Star break is an unbelievable .486. This means that when Wong has put the ball in play he has reached base nearly 50% of the time in the last 13 games. His BABIP in his first 70 games played was .254, which means he was actually getting a little unlucky in the first half of the season.

As someone with a great defensive reputation, Wong has been fairly disappointing on the defensive side so far. If Wong keeps on producing like he has been, he can make up for some of these defensive struggles.

It would be a huge boost to the Milwaukee Brewers offense if Wong can continue to reach base at a high level and hit for some power as the Brewers look to turn things around and make a post season push.

All Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs

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