Cardinals To Promote Kolten Wong

The Cardinals will promote top prospect Kolten Wong, the athletic department of the University of Hawaii (Wong's alma mater) tweets. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch confirms (via Twitter) that the Cardinals are set to promote Wong on Friday.

MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch tweets that the Cardinals will option Adron Chambers to clear space on their 25-man roster. Current Cards second baseman Matt Carpenter has played brilliantly this season, so Wong's promotion might mean less playing time for third baseman David Freese, as Carpenter, who has played 30 games at third this season, moves to the position on a more regular basis. Neither Wong nor Carpenter has significant experience at shortstop, where Pete Kozma has struggled this year.

Wong had been hitting .303/.369/.466 for Triple-A Memphis. The 22-year-old was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2011 draft. MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo ranks Wong the No. 53 prospect in baseball, while Baseball America ranked Wong No. 84 in their preseason rankings and ESPN's Keith Law ranked him No. 96. BA's 2013 Prospect Handbook named Wong the fifth-best prospect in a strong Cardinals system, noting that he has good power for a small player and has shown improved instincts at second. The late-season promotion surely means that Wong will not receive Super Two status, which would put him on track for arbitration eligibility after the 2016 season and free agency after 2019, assuming he sticks in the Majors.