Wong was the last Cardinal to finish in the top three for the Rookie of the Year vote. Ballots for the annual award, one of four presented by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, went out to voters recently. The league rookie of the year ballot has three lines on it, and voters are asked to pick their top three, in order. A Cardinal has received at least one vote for the previous four seasons: Stephen Piscotty (2015), Wong (2014), Shelby Miller (2013), and Matt Carpenter (2012). Jaime Garcia finished third in 2010. No Cardinal has won the award since Albert Pujols in 2001.

Before the hand injuries to Story and Diaz, the shortstops could have filled all the ballots in various orders. Seager’s WAR is the highest (5.4), while Story has 27 homers, and Diaz was a solid second in WAR (3.2) and the OBP lead (.376).

The down-ballot spots are less certain with Diaz and Story missing time.

“I think (Oh) is definitely worthy of consideration for it,” Matheny said. “I think like the MVP, with the (Rookie of the Year) there are usually people that need to be acknowledged if they do something special, something like that (necessary) for the team, and if it’s in their first year they should be thought of.”

That’s where September comes in.