The Los Angeles Dodgers bolstered their infield depth during the 2023 season by signing veteran second baseman Kolten Wong to a Minor League contract after he was released by the Seattle Mariners.
Wong joined the Dodgers in September and hit well down the stretch, earning the final spot on the team’s postseason roster for the National League Division Series.
Wong later signed Minor League deals with the Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2024 season, but did not reach the Majors.
Wong was inducted into the University of Hawaii Circle of Honor last week and revealed he has retired after 11 MLB seasons, via Brian McInnis of Spectrum News Hawaii:
“Pretty much right now, I’m done,” Wong said at UH’s Les Murakami Stadium, where he threw out the first pitch before the Rainbow Warriors’ game against UC San Diego. “I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that I’m probably going to be hanging them up. It’s just one of those things where, the game how it’s going now, there’s no sense of chasing (it). … I’m a dad now, yes, I’m enjoying that. I’m trying to be the best big league dad that I can be. So I’m going to stick to that.”
Wong was selected with the 22nd overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, where he would go on to make his big league debut two years later.
Wong played in eight seasons with the Cardinals and was a two-time Gold Glove Award winner. He also had a two-year stint with the Milwaukee Brewers (2021-2022) before appearing in games for the Mariners and Dodgers.
Wong hit .256/.330/.390 with 186 doubles, 31 triples, 86 home runs, 405 RBI and 120 stolen bases in 4,283 plate appearances across 1,189 MLB games.
Kolten Wong appreciated Dodgers hitting coaches
Upon joining the Dodgers roster for the final month of the 2023 season, Wong raved about his time at Camelback Ranch.
“Right when I signed, I went down to Arizona and started working with the hitting coaches, working in the hitting labs,” he said. “Just kind of cleaning some stuff up that I had creep in with Seattle, which led to my demise.”
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