In the News: Connor Wong (Red Sox Trade)

connor wong dodgers — Photo credit Gail Verderico, @1baseballchick on Twitter

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Connor Wong is in baseball news lately due to being the headliner in the Wong/Cash Considerations deal—otherwise known as the Verudgo/Downs and Betts/Price trade between the Dodgers and Red Sox.

Pre-Professional Career

Wong helped lead Pearland High School to a 37-6 record and a Class 5A Texas semifinal appearance during his senior year in 2014. He then spent three seasons with the University of Houston before being drafted by the Dodgers. At Houston he was a premier utility player, playing multiple positions throughout his career. He was known for his ability to hurt teams with power and baserunning: reaching double digits in both home runs and stolen bases during his last year with the Cougars. He was named to Baseball America’s top 100 college prospects list (88) in his final year.

Professional Career So Far

Connor was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round of the 2017 draft with the 100th pick and began his professional career in the Midwest League. He has steadily progressed through the Dodgers system, advancing at least one level each year he has played in the minors. In his career so far, he has continued to demonstrate a steady combination of power, speed, and positional versatility.
Most indications are that Wong has a good chance of carving out a future utility role.

Teams Played For
Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	From	To
2017	21	AZL Dodgers	Arizona League	Rk	LAD	2017-07-17	2017-07-17
2017	21	Great Lakes Loons	Midwest League	A	LAD	2017-07-19	2017-09-03
2018	22	Rancho Cucamonga Quakes	California League	A+	LAD	2018-04-05	2018-09-03
2019	23	Rancho Cucamonga Quakes	California League	A+	LAD	2019-04-04	2019-07-14
2019	23	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	AA	LAD	2019-07-16	2019-09-02

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/11/2020.

Statistics

Register Batting
Year	Age	AgeDif	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2017	21	-0.3	Great Lakes	MIDW	A	LAD	27	107	97	19	27	6	0	5	18	1	1	7	26	.278	.336	.495	.831
2017	21	1.2	Dodgers	ARIZ	Rk	LAD	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000
2018	22	-0.3	Rancho Cucamonga	CALL	A+	LAD	102	431	383	64	103	20	2	19	60	6	2	38	138	.269	.350	.480	.831
2019	23		2 Teams	2 Lgs	A+-AA	LAD	111	465	423	56	119	24	7	24	82	11	3	32	143	.281	.336	.541	.878
2019	23	-0.8	Tulsa	TL	AA	LAD	40	163	149	17	52	9	1	9	31	2	1	11	50	.349	.393	.604	.997
2019	23	0.5	Rancho Cucamonga	CALL	A+	LAD	71	302	274	39	67	15	6	15	51	9	2	21	93	.245	.306	.507	.813
Mino	Mino	Mino	Mino		Minors		241	1004	904	139	249	50	9	48	160	18	6	77	308	.275	.342	.510	.852
NCAA	NCAA	NCAA	NCAA		NCAA		184	856	733	152	205	32	8	23	104	38	8	98	133	.280	.372	.439	.811
Othe	Othe	Othe	Othe		Other		79	278	245	33	70	12	1	4	30	4	2	22	50	.286	.347	.392	.739
All	All	All	All				504	2138	1882	324	524	94	18	75	294	60	16	197	491	.278	.354	.467	.822

AA (	AA (	AA (	AA (		Minors		40	163	149	17	52	9	1	9	31	2	1	11	50	.349	.393	.604	.997
A+ (	A+ (	A+ (	A+ (		Minors		173	733	657	103	170	35	8	34	111	15	4	59	231	.259	.332	.492	.824
A (1	A (1	A (1	A (1		Minors		27	107	97	19	27	6	0	5	18	1	1	7	26	.278	.336	.495	.831
Rk (	Rk (	Rk (	Rk (		Minors		1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/12/2020.

Prospect Rankings

Wong has appeared on several 2020 team prospect lists:

Site	Ranking
Prospects1500	#14 Red Sox prospect
MLB.com	#18 Red Sox prospect
Fangraphs	#13 Dodgers prospect
Baseball Prospectus	#16 Dodgers prospect
Prospects Live	#27 Dodgers prospect
FantraxHQ	#21 Dodgers prospect

Outlooks Across the Industry

Prospects1500

[He] strikes out too much to be considered an elite fantasy prospect at this juncture, but his power/speed combination is nice.

Prospects Live

Wong is one-dimensional (power) at the plate, so he’ll rely on his defensive versatility

Baseball Prospectus (link to NESN article with quote)

he generates outsized power with a deep load and extreme torque, but it’s quite literally a hit-or-miss swing. It takes him a beat to trigger, and the ferocity with which he does often leads to a disjointed and slow barrel delivery, particularly when he gets after pitches on the inner third he wants to drive

Fangraphs

[Wong is] an athletic, multi-positional player who spent his early college career at shortstop, Wong now sees time behind the plate, as he did throughout most of college, and at second and third base

2020 Minor League Baseball Analyst (book; link to Amazon)

Strong arm with solid receiving skills should allow him to stick behind the dish, but will need to make more contact as he moves up.

ESPN

Wong doesn’t have big raw power but has learned to lift the ball well enough to do damage, with below-average contact skills and mostly average tools across the board.