JUPITER, Fla. -- When Kolten Wong got to the big leagues in 2013, he quickly realized that fans loved home runs. They loved the powerful swings and seeing how far each homer went. Wong admitted that he wanted to be on that level, and it took him some time to realize that he wasn’t that kind of player.

The Cardinals second baseman had to find his identity at the plate to excel in the big leagues. Now, he’s reaping the benefits of doing so.

“Coming up through high school, college, Minor League ball, I’ve always hit,” Wong said. “For me, being 5-foot-7 and 185 pounds, that’s a little tough, so I understood what works for me and just trying to keep that going.”

Consider Wong’s production in Thursday’s 7-7 tie with the Mets: Batting leadoff in a lineup that could resemble something the Cardinals might see on Opening Day, Wong singled to left field and stole second off Mets starter Rick Porcello. In the third inning, Wong singled to right field. And in the Cardinals’ six-run fourth inning, Wong singled on a bunt down the third-base line. He came home on Matt Carpenter’s two-run homer.

That’s Wong’s game.

“That’s it,” Wong said. “I haven’t bunted at all this spring, so I figured today was a good day to do it.”

Wong has hit leadoff a few times this spring, in part because it gives him more at-bats, but also because manager Mike Shildt is considering a few options for leadoff this year, and Wong is one of the candidates, along with Carpenter, Dexter Fowler and Tommy Edman. The Cardinals hit .216 in the leadoff spot in 2019, which ranked 29th in the Majors. Their .308 on-base percentage also ranked 29th, and their slugging percentage was dead last at .355. They need a jolt there in 2020.

Being able to play every day gave Wong a career-best year in 2019, when he hit .285/.361/.423 and won the National League Gold Glove at second base. He was moved from hitting eighth to hitting second in the second half and continued to produce -- and get on base for the players behind him, like Paul Goldschmidt and Paul DeJong.

Wong’s game fits into the leadoff spot. He can get on base in a lot of different ways -- like he did Thursday -- and he’s fast, so he can distract the pitcher by stealing bases. But he’s also patient and takes his walks, something he learned last year hitting eighth.

“Pitchers know the pitcher is behind you, so they try to get super nasty because they’re thinking, ‘He’s eighth, pitcher behind him, that’s another out, so I can get nasty on this guy and maybe walk him, but I’m not going to give him anything he can drive,’” Wong said. “I started leaning on that, picking things up, tendencies, and it helped me to get to this point now.”

A few years ago, Wong would tell anyone who asked that he wanted to be the leadoff hitter -- it was a goal of his, and he thought his style fit there. But this spring, he said he’s told Shildt many times that he doesn’t mind where he hits.

“I know what [hitting leadoff] would have used to mean for Kolten,” Shildt said. “I’m not saying it doesn’t still have relevance or importance, and I don’t think there’s any coincidence that when Kolten realized that, ‘I’m going to play my game and be me,’ his whole game opened up. Everybody wants more, but in our conversations, when he moved up to second, he’s accepting the ability to play where we like him to go and that makes the most sense.”

But Wong has enjoyed hitting leadoff this spring, especially with his swing continuing the groove that it was in last year. He sets the tone in the infield with his elite defense. He could do the same for the lineup as the leadoff hitter.

“It’s fun to sort of be that table-setter for the team,” Wong said. “Work ABs, get on base, steal some bases, cause some havoc. It’s fun doing that.”

Worth noting

• Adam Wainwright, facing the Mets for the third consecutive time this spring, was knocked around for five runs on eight hits in four innings of the home game Thursday. Wainwright walked one and didn’t strike out any, throwing 64 pitches (47 strikes).

“Traditionally when you execute pitches, it doesn’t matter a whole lot [who you face],” Wainwright said. “But I’m missing the last little bit of life, jump on the heater, last little bit of sink on the sinker, last little bit of slide on the slider, last little bit of drop on the curveball. So I had two strikes a lot, but couldn’t put anybody away.”

• Kwang-Hyun Kim returned to game action after dealing with groin soreness the past week and threw two scoreless innings with 25 pitches. The lefty said he’s back to feeling 100 percent and is scheduled to pitch again next week.

• Thursday brought no update for Andrew Miller, who is undergoing a series of tests to try to determine the reason for his lack of feel. Miller has been playing catch but not throwing in games as he searches for answers for what he’s been feeling lately.

Up next

After an off-day Friday, the Cardinals welcome the Astros to Roger Dean Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday. John Gant is scheduled to start, followed by Austin Gomber, Tyler Webb, Giovanny Gallegos, Brett Cecil, Junior Fernandez and Kodi Whitley.