“Regardless of how this finishes for Kolten — which I anticipate and hope that it’s going to finish well — he’s going to label this as one of those tough seasons in every regard,” manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s had to make a lot of adjustments. He’s had to work. He’s had to grow. He’s doing all of the above. He’s still in the middle.”

In the last series of July, at Miami, Wong felt he had a breakthrough at the plate, going six for 13 with two extra-base hits. He said then and reiterated this weekend that it was the best he’s felt about his swing — because he felt it was the best he’s known his swing.

The starts have become scarce since.

So Wong has thrown himself into increased video work. Using YouTube and other digital video, he’s looked for traits of swings he wants to borrow or for swings that are similar to the one he has. That has meant watching video of Mark McGwire, Josh Donaldson and Mookie Betts. Within each, Wong sees things he wants to adopt. For Donaldson, it’s how he steadies himself in the box. Betts and Wong have similar arm position for the pitch. McGwire had a base that allowed him to “explode” toward the ball, Wong said.