There obviously is a major difference between hitting in the big leagues and at Triple-A, but it’s becoming hard to ignore what Connor Wong is doing for the Worcester Red Sox.
A lot of the conversation about potential Red Sox roster moves has centered around Triston Casas. However, Wong’s recent tear should prompt a conversation about getting him to Boston for a potential shot in the arm to an offense that has gone ice-cold.
Wong hit two more home runs (including an absolute missile) Thursday night against Syracuse. The catching prospect now has a pretty ridiculous six home runs in 47 at-bats since returning from injury on Aug. 3. He has four multi-hit games in that stretch, with at least one knock in 10 of 11 of those games.
On the surface, it appears Boston’s catching tandem of Kevin Plawecki and Reese McGuire is the least of the club’s offensive issues. The duo has combined to hit .317 in the month of August, but the underlying numbers suggest that’s not sustainable and could be due for regression. They’ve combined for a .371 batting average on balls in play despite having the league’s seventh-worst hard-hit percentage in that stretch.
Wong has yet to get an extended look at the big league level, either in Boston or Los Angeles where he began his career. He has just 21 major league at-bats to his name so far. Expecting him to produce on the same level should he get a promotion obviously is misguided. However, the Red Sox probably want to see what he can do at some point, and it’s getting harder to argue that shouldn’t come soon for the 26-year-old.
At this point, it might just be a matter of time. Wong could be one of the team’s September call-ups, though the limited roster expansion compared to the past could be a factor, too. But if Wong continues to produce like he has in the last two weeks, the Red Sox might need to find a way to get him to the bigs.
