Move up in the box, back in the box, sideways in the box, and erase the box with their foot before standing on the plate. However, DeJong may be close to making his way back. The Yankees led 3-2. I dont think its a bad thing for him to pull the ball more. As we look forward to his 23 season, even in this very early season sample size, we can draw some notable parallels with his lamentable 22 season. Given his recent struggles in previous years, there may not be a clear path back for the former slugger. Dodgers third. And those pitches will be on the black in challenge counts and with incredible break and spin. He homered in the second game of the year, and then only had two extra-base hits both doubles the rest of the month. CHICAGO -- The ever-sturdy, ever-reliable Paul DeJong has been such a constant in Cardinals lineups since he debuted in 2017 that the club has stressed the need to simply find their shortstop a breather over the course of this campaign and those of the past. Practically giddy over what they hoped they had developed, the Cardinals inked DeJong to a regrettable arbitration buy-out deal. When he's not writing sports articles, you can find him playing MLB The Show, watching Cardinals games, and scrolling through Star Wars memes. Which makes him a candidate to be traded or even designated for assignment. He has 813 plate appearances of 77 wRC+ this decade. The Cardinals could take both Yepez and Motter on their Opening Day roster, with Yepez manning the bench bat role and Motter being used as a utility man when needed. He wasnt guaranteed anything. I know it's a long season, so I'm just going to do what I got to do each day, and eventually it'll be good enough to be out there on the field again and show what I can do.. But the math wasnt going to work. What served as the deciding factor was the quality of DeJongs at-bats, which Marmol felt had not improved, and needing overall better production through the lineup. Curt is a massive fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and MLB. Infielder who was a fourth round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2015 MLB Draft. He hit more line drives than usual. That certainly didnt base that decision on performance. And Paul Dejong has been what hes been for a while now. (Last updated: April 21), LHP Packy Naughton (left forearm strain): Since going on the 15-day IL, Naughton has continued a rest program to see how his arm responds. Physically he stated he had been feeling good, really since he got to Memphis. Yeah, it's not ideal, Marmol said after the Cards' 4-1 win over the Mets on Wednesday. Unsubscribe at any time. THE COLD WIRE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF COLD WIRE MEDIA. I think hes had a lot of voices in his ear and we need to simplify that, Mozeliak said. He was sent down to Triple-A Memphis, lost. Gorman, 22, has flashed the tantalizing skills that have made both Cardinals and rival executives gush over his abilities, as he is slashing .385/.500/.539 with a 1.039 OPS in his first 16 plate appearances. DeJong will share the middle infield on Sunday with Nolan Gorman. Instead, DeJong faltered to the point where Mozeliak had no choice but to demote him. He hit fewer fly balls. Obviously, he worked really hard this offseason to address certain things with his swing. However, the Cardinals' plans to showcase DeJong fizzled almost from the start when he was unable to play shortstop because of a case of arm fatigue. With Edman playing for South Korea in the WBC and DeJong nursing an injury, an unexpected opportunity has emerged for Masyn Winn, the No. Tommys having an incredible season for us right now at second, Mozeliak said. The St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong has finally made his debut in the 2023 MLB season and it did not take him much time before making his presence felt on offense. The competition for the right-handed bench bat remains wide open. However, DeJong may be close to making his way back. DeJong swung the bat well enough at Triple-A to get back to St. Louis, where he had home runs in his first two games and drove in the winning run with a double against the Yankees a few days later. RHP Adam Wainwright (groin): Wainwright made a rehab appearance on Wednesday with Class AA Springfield and completed three innings, allowing two runs on four hits. All while providing solid-to-good defense himself? April 22nd, 2023. The former All-Star shortstop is currently on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis. What DeJong has been most of the season was not what he was Friday night. Try a week on us. I can't touch my toes. Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA (select parishes)/MA/MD/MI/NH/NJ/NY/OH/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. We'll give him a few days and see how he responds to the treatment and overall work in the weight room, and then go from there.. Our hope was he would get a decent amount of at-bats, especially with [starter Tommy] Edman going to the [World Baseball Classic]. A day after DeJong was scratched from the lineup because of back pain, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol revealed that the shortstop will be sidelined for a few days with discomfort that prevents him from bending over to field grounders. With a little more than two weeks remaining before St. Louis opens the regular season, DeJong is still sitting on 19 plate appearances and 13 at-bats in what was tabbed as a make-or-break Spring Training for him. Some fans want him DFAed and forgotten forever. The Cardinals decided to call up Robertson and leave Gorman in Memphis for a multitude of reasons, with the top priority being playing time. Zachary Silver. Wainwright made a rehab appearance on Wednesday with Class AA Springfield and completed three innings, allowing two runs on four hits. Wainwright is scheduled to make a second rehab start with Springfield, which will come on the road at Wichita. LHP Packy Naughton (left forearm strain): Since going on the 15-day IL, Naughton has continued a rest program to see how his arm responds. However, hes been unable to carry over the momentum from that moment because of multiple injuries. Follow Katie on Twitter @katiejwoo, Cardinals roster projection 2.0: Who to watch with a week of spring training remaining, MLB spring training standouts: 10 young players who are impressing GMs, scouts. We cant if Tommys at second, and we dont want to just move Tommy over there without a strategic plan for that transition.. Thats pretty good for a 23-year-old shortstop. Asked if he thinks hell be ready to play again before the Cardinals break camp, DeJong said probably not.. He had an unsustainable .349 BABIP, a well-below average 4.7% walk rate, and a 28% strikeout rate in 17. Or if it was just the natural evolution of DeJongs swing. Perhaps most importantly, he has only struck out twice. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & resort (KS). They didn't quite have in mind the . Hes hitting better now. A look at internal options for the rotation. His flyball rate was 36.4%. Putting the ask on him midstream, I think its something that we want to be cognizant of and give him the best chance of success and just doing it as a knee-jerk reaction. Taylor Motter re, With two statistically more powerful options available off the bench, manager sticks with Dylan Carlson's keen play for key at-bat in 1-0 loss, Clearly, when you look at it just from what we have done, it hasnt been working, says executive John Mozeliak of outfield rotation amidst l, Ryan Helsley, rarely used in recently because Cardinals so rarely had a lead, allows walk-off homer in 5-4 loss to Giants that underscores mul. Once he cools off, hell settle right back in as the same hitter he was before and thats not a major league player, regardless of his defense. I do think other teams had some interest; he could have been moved. But his offense was 20 percentage points below where he started. On Twitter, Cardinals insider Jeff Jones provided an update on where things stand and revealed what manager Oli Marmol had to say about the matter. He busted out quickly and then tanked again. But his weakness is against right-handed pitching. In 77 MLB games last season, he hit .157 with six home runs and 25 RBIs -- prompting the offseason work to change his approach at the plate. He will be reevaluated after that start and would be considered for a return to the majors. DeJong, 28, has a murky future with the Cardinals after the season. Pauly D gives the #STLCards the lead with a two-run double! Give DeJong some credit. And doing it against AAA pitchers is meaningless. Tommy Edman was shifted over to re-learn short and excelled there defensively. Paul DeJong hasnt had a season with a batting average better than .200 since 2020 when he hit .250. The at-bats just looked the same, he explained. Paul DeJong to Paul Goldschmidt. Over his four starts this season, Flexen has allowed 22 hits and 15 runs in 17 1/3 innings. Its something that we the last couple of days have really been agonizing over, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said from the Cardinals dugout on Tuesday. A Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, Rex claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. JUPITER, Fla. Back in mid-March, long after the majority of the major leaguers had headed back to the clubhouse for the day or left for the golf course there stood Paul DeJong on an . St. Louis Cardinals' Paul DeJong (11) and Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrate a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees following of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in St. Louis. By the end of April, he was batting just .137. Can we get him at-bats here? Marmol asked hypothetically. @ JohnDenton555. Paul DeJong steps into opportunity he might have 'dreaded' before and delivers big hit for Cardinals vs. Yankees, Four candidates to be this October's Jorge Soler/Eddie Rosario-type playoff hero, Aaron Judge pushes ahead of Yankees legends with torrid home run pace heading into August, New York lands OF Bader for SP Montgomery, Cardinals bolster pitching staff in deadline deal with Pirates for Quintana. Believing in my stuff, and knowing that it's small tweaks at this point. We can talk about hard-hitting balls, hard contact, but you guys can look at the numbers just like we can, and hes just not getting it done in that standpoint. Over his four starts this season, Flexen has allowed 22 hits and 15 runs in 17 1/3 innings. Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong strikes out with two men on base to end the seventh inning against the Padres on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022 at Petco Park in San Diego. His fast start in his return from the minors is reminiscent of 2022 when, following a nearly three-month-long demotion due to poor performance, DeJong cranked homers in consecutive days and went on a . As a player who never profiled to hit for average but possessed a high upside when it came to power, the Cardinals easily accepted that from DeJong, especially when coupled with his solid glove at a premier position. Juan Yepez, who looks to be on the outside looking in in terms of the outfield, remains under consideration for a pinch-hit role as well. Tommy Edman transitioned from second base to shortstop while top infield prospect Nolan Gorman took over at second. What made it noteworthy was that it was DeJong's 9th home run in the last 12 games. DeJong smashed it the other way, and the ball rattled around in the right-field corner. In 14 innings, he surrendered just eight hits while striking out 15. Check back in at stltoday.comthroughout the afternoon and evening for coverage of the game. I dont know if that was a strategic decision. In his career, DeJong has shown reverse splits. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year. The clubs first-round Draft pick in 2015, Woodford emerged as a valuable depth arm in 2022, pitching to a 2.23 ERA across 48 1/3 innings in a versatile role. Still, Mozeliak is hesitant to act on an impulse without at least vetting other options. FanGraphs has a projected playing time of only 15 percent at the shortstop position in St. Louis for Paul DeJong, while Tommy Edman owns an 81 percent projected 81 percent playing time in the same infield slot. I love the Cardinals fans, the Cardinals organization, my coaches and teammates, DeJong said. He will see more balls land in good places if he can turn on them than if he tries to drive them with pop the other direction. He spent most of the offseason at the Cards' Florida complex reworking his swing, then he hit .154 with one homer and six walks across 19 plate appearances in Grapefruit League play. Prior to joining The Athletic, Katie spent two years covering the minor leagues as an editorial producer for MiLB.com and spent the 2018 MLB season covering the San Diego Padres as an associate reporter for MLB.com. USE OF THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF OUR TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY. They locked up their guy, hoping and believing that he would at least be an above-average hitter and they had faith they could teach him how to play the position defensively. So, Dejong returned. DeJong barely had any time this spring and hit the IL on Opening Day to both rehab his back and get in some Spring Training before roster mechanics forced the club to activate him. The righty is expected to throw around 75 pitches in the outing. Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong aggravated his lower back taking ground balls before Mondays exhibition game against the Marlins and will likely miss the opening of the 2023 season. His 2024 team also has a club option on him for 2025 worth $15 million. Its about sticking with things moment to moment. Brendan Donovan who won the first-ever National League utility Gold Glove last year, is now the most likely to fill the void. Yet through the last two seasons, DeJong hasnt been able to regain that form. He had been scheduled to return to action Tuesday, before experiencing the setback Monday morning trying to backhand a ground ball and simulate his throwing motion. After an All-Star season in 2019, DeJongs offensive performance has slipped steadily over the last three years. Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong fouls a ball off his left foot while taking batting practice on Monday, Feb. 20, 2023, at the club's spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. (CT) at T-Mobile Park. This was dubbed a critical spring for DeJong, coming off a season in which the 2019 All-Star hit .157 and spent more than two months at Triple-A Memphis. The Cardinals must make a roster move to activate DeJong, and the team is still weighing that decision. Odds and lines subject to change. From 20-22, DeJongs whiffs rose. He was selected by the Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2015 MLB draft. Very exciting for an organization that hasnt had a power hitter at the position since well, ever. It could be that Edman -- who returned to camp on Wednesday when South Korea did not advance out of WBC pool play -- returns at shortstop before DeJong takes the field. Mozeliak said the club made the decision to promote DeJong on Friday afternoon, but the logistics of joining the Cardinals in Seattle during their 10-game road trip complicated matters a bit. You already know that DeJong scuffled to begin last season. He released a statement to The Athletic through his agent, Burton Rocks, on Thursday evening. 23 AAA: .353/.450/.618, with a 12.5% BB rate, a 30% K rate, and a 174 wRC+. St. Louis Cardinals' Paul DeJong bats during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Saturday, April 9, 2022, in St. Louis. The most likely solution? In the minors. But I just got to keep going. He went three for four with a homer and no Ks. John Denton. The journeyman Motter, who has opened eyes with his versatility and power this spring, is the only member of that group capable of playing the middle infield.
