DeJong played college baseball for the Redbirds which is . Then I started working through the budget. His ERA at the end of April was a sparkling 0.84. 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. The combination would be another collapse. He gave up eight runs in 2 1/3 innings to the Cubs on April 11 and allowed four runs across six innings against the Brewers on April 17. But that start ended with him allowing a homer, double, and a walk to the last three batters he faced to open up the seventh. He was sent out as Brendan Donovans play began to demand a starters workload. In July, DeJong was hit with a pitch and missed a few weeks. 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 . Holmes started the season with a prominent role in the Yankees' bullpen. On Sunday, in his first game back after spending much of the past . 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. Cardinals Insider Provides Positive Adam Wainwright Update. Help us maintain a respectful and inclusive community. And Paul Dejong has been what hes been for a while now. I would expect the playing for (Paul DeJong) to fluctuate, and to resemble what Oli Marmol has been doing in the outfield, Woo said. It's more just execution, consistency and just fine-tuning stuff.". Tommy Edman, the Cardinals regular starting shortstop, is not in manager Oliver Marmols starting lineup after he homered in the ninth inning on Saturday. Those are never easy conversations, Marmol said. The . I do think other teams had some interest; he could have been moved. (Last updated: April 18), Monday vs. San Francisco: LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-2, 4.84) vs. TBA, Tuesday vs. San Francisco: RHP Jake Woodford 1-2, 6.05) vs. TBA, Wednesday vs. San Francisco: LHP Steven Matz (0-3, 6.55) vs. TBA. I asked if it DeJong would be here once hes healthy, and Marmol said they want to get to that point first and see where things are at before making that determination. And have you gotten ample amount of playing time to be prepared when called upon? Mozeliak said from T-Mobile Park on Saturday before the Cardinals faced the Mariners. All indications are that he worked in the offseason to improve, simplify his batting approach, and try to get himself back to his former production levels. His rookie-season production over a relatively small sample size hid disturbing flaws. Holmes unleashed a 95 mph sinker that caught a little too much of the plate. He missed most of Spring Training with lower back discomfort. His 24 and 9 wRC+ pre-demotion and post-return surge are extremely discouraging. After reforming his swing over the winter, DeJong was expected to factor heavily into the reserve infielder and right-handed bench bat role. The result was a league-average player with improving defense. 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. Have you recovered from your injury? In the 2022 MLB season, the one-time All-Star hit just .157 to go with a .245 OBP and .285 SLG. When he's not writing sports articles, you can find him playing MLB The Show, watching Cardinals games, and scrolling through Star Wars memes. Holmes started the season with a prominent role in the . He saw fewer and fewer pitches in the zone. I can't touch my toes. DeJong went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and six RBIs on Friday for Memphis, boosting his batting average to .353 and his OPS to 1.068 in nine games. A nightly look at the day\'s top sports stories, and a first look at the topics St. Louis fans will be talking about tomorrow. MORE:Cardinals bolster pitching staff in deadline deal with Pirates for Quintana. But his weakness is against right-handed pitching. Yeah, it's not ideal, Marmol said after the Cards' 4-1 win over the Mets on Wednesday. Paul DeJong moves his rehab assignment to Memphis Monday. He gave up an earned run in the sixth inning on Opening Day, and six of his first nine appearances on the season were before the eighth inning. Catchers once in a lifetime lunge saves Cardinals, The world watches (and makes donations) as St. Louis bald eagle raises eaglet from a rock, Governor threatens to keep Missouri lawmakers in session over transgender rules, Barat Academy in Chesterfield to close after years of financial troubles, Four young people die in Old Monroe head-on crash, Court records online include private information for thousands of Missouri residents, Archdiocese releases third draft of proposed changes to St. Louis parishes. Despite the All-Star appearance, and the 30-homer season. Flaherty has struck out 17 batters and walked 17 in 21 1/3 innings. DeJong was the subject of much speculation in the offseason, but the club stuck with him as its starting shortstop entering the season. Nolan Arenado (infield single) was on second base, Tyler ONeill (walk) was on first. But the math wasnt going to work. @ zachsilver. DeJong, now 29 with five years of MLB service time, homered in his first big league at-bat in Colorado back in 2017. Paul DeJong, just three years after being an All-Star with the St. Louis Cardinals, is playing for the Memphis Redbirds, hoping to turn career around. . The organization was patient: In 2020 he suffered a bout of COVID-19 during the already-condensed pandemic season, and in 2021 broke a rib after being hit by a pitch in mid-May. St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong talks with the media at the Winter Warm-Up. The most important thing is just getting a routine and playing again, not having to look over your shoulder, Mozeliak said. Sent down to . He was optioned to Triple A last May after hitting .130 over the first 24 games of the year. We need him to be where whatever he decides to do, he believes, and its not us having five or six people tell him what to do.. However, after more late-season regression, DeJong decided to tear his batting stance down and start from scratch. 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. DeJong signed a six-year deal with the Cardinals worth $26 million back in 2018, and he is pressed to have a good performance this year if he wants St. Louis to have his 2024 club option ($12.5 million) picked up. In June, Holmes allowed one earned run and three walks and struck out 12 in 12 innings. In his return to the lineup, DeJong will hit ahead of rookie Jordan Walker, who got a day off on Saturday and is batting .271 with 11 RBIs in 19 games to start his MLB career. Brendan Donovan who won the first-ever National League utility Gold Glove last year, is now the most likely to fill the void. In the minors. He was optioned to Triple A last May after hitting .130 over the first 24 games . Sign up to comment on articles, engage with fellow sports fans, and contribute to high-quality discussions. DeJong smacked a two-run shot in the eighth inning and scored St. Louis' final run of the game in the ninth. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. This is a truth proven over and over again on a nightly basis, of course, in ways both subtle and obvious. His flyball rate was 36.4%. So, Dejong returned. The starting shortstop job was DeJongs to win back, and a promising spring campaign one where DeJong felt like (himself) again seemed to indicate this would be the season where he would turn it around. The most likely solution? Coming off a 2022 season in which he hit .157 and was demoted to Triple-A Memphis on May 10, DeJong spent most of his offseason at the team's Florida complex reworking his approach at the plate. DeJong spent most of the offseason reworking his approach at the plate, opting for a minimal-stride stance that allows him to be better balanced and on time for pitches. I dont think its a bad thing for him to pull the ball more. I think the ability to go down there and have a reset is important, but hes going to have to actually make physical change so that the result looks different.. It seemed best for the club to work out a change-of-scenery type deal that would allow him to compete at SS and try to get himself right. Hed been fantastic since New York traded for him before the July 2021 trade deadline, and the Yankees expected to give him a season full of important outs, though not necessarily at the very end of ballgames. Try a week on us. (Photo: Cliff Welch / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). It wasnt looking any better, so we made the move.. That certainly didnt base that decision on performance. By Tuesday morning, DeJongs fate was decided. 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 . Baseball, the sport of 162 games and six months and enough time for ebbs and flows that other sports dont allow, presented an opportunity for DeJong on Friday, and he seized the moment. Try to go the other way. 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 two-week bender (.646 slugging% and a 182 wRC+) before falling back into his old habits. In 16 games that month for the Redbirds his first extended time in the minors since 2017 he hit two home runs and had a .634 OPS. 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. Arenado and ONeill scored, and the Cardinals suddenly led 4-3. "I had faith that I would make my return," DeJong told The Sporting News after the game Friday. But the back issue flared up Tuesday, preventing DeJong from fully bending down to field grounders. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}. He has 813 plate appearances of 77 wRC+ this decade. PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- In a perfect world, Paul DeJong would have been in the batters box and facing Mets superstar pitcher Justin Verlander on Wednesday while using his newly designed minimal-stride approach to show the Cardinals that he can again be a useful hitter. DeJong went 2-for-13 in his spring appearances, though he did work six walks, and one of those two hits was a home run. I think all those things translate to the Major League level. DeJong's +1 DRS tells a slightly different story than his -3 . They all try a lot of things. But Im just thankful for my chance to be here still, and I'm just going to do what I can every day until I hear anything else.. He had clubbed just three doubles and one home run. His contact levels would drop again. Is he back as a different player? SEATTLE -- Shortstop Paul DeJong, whose career has been marred by shocking struggles much of the past three seasons, is headed back to the Cardinals and could be activated as soon as Sunday, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Saturday. The pitcher with the 1.77 ERA vs. the hitter with the .140 average in 2022. In AAA, his combined fly ball and infield fly ball rate was 65%. Jeff Chiu/AP Show More Show Less 2 of 9 St. Louis Cardinals' Alec Burleson, right, is congratulated by Paul DeJong (11) after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game . His setback will require at least a week of rehab, meaning DeJong will all but surely start the season on the injured list. 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. Mozeliak used that rationale to warrant giving him one more chance and told him as much over the offseason before MLB induced a lockout. "I'm just really happy to be back here and contributing the way that I am.". Wainwright made a rehab appearance on Wednesday with Class AA Springfield and completed three innings, allowing two runs on four hits. 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. While in AAA, DeJong was up and down, displaying the same kinds of traits he has had for years in the majors with the added production bump from facing exclusively minor league arms. DeJongs 20-day rehab stint was set to expire on Tuesday, but the team felt comfortable promoting him earlier because of his improved health and the groove he has been in at the plate. But as has been the case for much of the past three seasons with DeJong, little has gone perfectly for the onetime All-Star shortstop. Believing in my stuff, and knowing that it's small tweaks at this point. 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. Paul DeJong is a professional baseball player who is currently playing in the Major League Baseball(MLB). If he simplified his approach to get the barrel to the ball quicker, then why did he whiff so often on minor league pitches early this season? Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong hits an RBI double in the fifth inning of a game against the Yankees on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022, at Busch Stadium. Thats not $9M former All-Star shortstop levels of production. 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. He went three for four with a homer and no Ks. I believe he (or someone like him) has a necessary role to play on this club. April 22nd, 2023. And those pitches will be on the black in challenge counts and with incredible break and spin. Our hope is that hell rejoin this club and be a productive member that we saw prior to the pandemic season.. He played college baseball at the Illinois State University. The 29-year-old baseball player was born in Orlando, Florida, USA. He ended up with just 40 PAs at Memphis. "He continues to get better and better, and that was a pretty impressive outing, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. Despite all those accolades that the broadcasters like to remind us of, DeJong has not been a good Major League hitter since his first few months in the Majors. His pull percentage was the highest of his career at any level at 63.6%. 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. Eligibility restrictions apply. Exciting. DeJong, meanwhile, has been better in Triple-A, but is still struggling as hes hitting only .189/.244/.243 with a .487 OPS in 41 plate appearances. Paul DeJong to Paul Goldschmidt. Call (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelpline.ma.org (MA), Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). In order for Gorman to be used effectively, he would need to also see ample reps at second base, a position he has played professionally for just over a year. He was sent to Triple-A in 2022 after batting .130 through 24 games into the season. Throw Kramer Robertson in there, too, if you want. But were not going to take someone thats having the type of season he is and just like a light switch, move him over.. If Sosa doesnt seize the opportunity, Edman may be forced to slot over to shortstop and refine his skills on the fly. I guess in the back of my mind, I felt like I wasn't fully there, DeJong said. He emerged from those sessions with a more balanced swing, newly confident that he could get back to being the player who smashed 74 home runs from 2017-19, finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting in '17 and played in the All-Star Game in '19. SEATTLE -- Shortstop Paul DeJong, whose career has been marred by shocking struggles much of the past three seasons, is headed back to the Cardinals and could be activated as soon as Sunday, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Saturday. Instead, DeJong faltered to the point where Mozeliak had no choice but to demote him. It doesnt mean he was pleased with it but he understood it.. 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. They will change a bat. What does that mean for Calif.? The change in his batted ball data is your muse. Cardinals latest, deflating loss compounds concerns, Man shot, killed near Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis, What was Andrew Knizner thinking? Still, Mozeliak is hesitant to act on an impulse without at least vetting other options. An All-Star as recently as 2019, DeJong has had a disastrous start to the year, batting an anemic .130 with 25 strikeouts in 86 plate appearances. WASHINGTON -- Paul DeJong is back with the Cardinals, though not officially, yet. The righty is expected to throw around 75 pitches in the outing. DeJong, 29, almost certainly would have gotten those at-bats -- and would have fielded the four groundouts to shortstop over the games first four innings. An outfield in flux. After that first hiccup, though, Holmes didnt allow a run the rest of the month. It's a fine line between competing and working on stuff, Woodford said. The Yankees led 3-2. Tommy Edman has a 94 career wRC+ against right-handed pitchers as a lefty batter. He cut down on his Ks in 18 and 19. 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. 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. ST. LOUIS What a major league baseball player was yesterday is not necessarily what he is today. I know things can change. The Cardinals are hopeful he can rediscover the swing that helped him hit 25 home runs as a rookie in 2017, 19 in 2018 and a career-best 30 in 2019, when he was the NLs starting shortstop in the All-Star Game. I fully commend DeJong for trying something new and for his willingness to put in the work to change. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 left on. Maybe they had a plan to fix him? That new stance seemed to be paying off for DeJong in early March when he hit a long home run off the batters eye against the Nationals. He struck out three and threw a total of 59 pitches (40 strikes). The veteran infielder has recorded multiple hits in three of his five games this season and is slashing .471/.471/.941 through 21 plate appearances. Will it last? 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. And it would backfire on him. However, I remain skeptical that the changes he says hes made will have any significant impact on his performance at the Major League level over the long haul. He returned in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon, batting 7 th and playing shortstop to give Tommy Edman a needed day off. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. His homerun per flyball rate was 23.9% a high rate built on offense-oriented minor league ballparks and developing pitchers with sketchy command. He missed the beginning of the campaign with a back injury but has started four of the . For me, its about breaking every situation down and not getting ahead of myself, DeJong said. Gorman will start at second and bat third behind leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. But when you think about whats best for him, whats best for the organization and really this club right now, we found it was going to be difficult to get him at-bats and get right while were trying to win games at the major-league level. Of the four hits he allowed, two here homers. Maybe they still loved hope as a strategy? 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. He struck out three and threw a total of 59 pitches (40 strikes). Part of me wants to see progress in there. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals in the position of shortstop and was drafted in the 2015 MLB Draft in the fourth round. In 18 and 19, DeJong showed some signs of maturity all while seeing his overall offensive production drop. It seemed very likely that once DeJong started facing the worlds best pitching again, his K rate would climb back up to 30%. 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Though DeJong has amassed a 0.5 bWAR on the year, he was hitting just .177 with a .648 OPS and seven homers when he went on the IL. Ranking the 10 worst contracts in the National League Central. He is then expected to advance through light throwing. He also hit just six home runs with 25 RBI across 77 games and 237 plate appearances. Its probably a combination of all three. With 10 days remaining until the Cardinals open the regular season March 30, the team acknowledges time is running out for DeJong to heal and ramp up for Opening Day. The Cardinals will send right-hander Jack Flaherty to the mound as they look to avoid a sweep vs. Seattle in the first leg of their three-city, west coast road trip. He had an unsustainable .349 BABIP, a well-below average 4.7% walk rate, and a 28% strikeout rate in 17. Following an offseason spent reworking his swing, DeJong was limited to 13 at-bats during spring training because of a back injury. He has gone 1-for-9 with two walks and three strikeouts. I would argue that outside of his often-cited, never duplicated rookie season, his former production levels arent all that exciting. RHP Chris Flexen (0-3, 7.79 ERA): Flexen comes into Sunday set to face an NL Central team for the third consecutive time. You would be hard-pressed to find two players following more divergent paths in the 2022 season. DeJong slugged .390 in 2021, compared with .286 this . I am sure that little splits-oriented nuance is part of the reason the club decided fairly early in the offseason to bring him back. I have always wanted to make everyone proud and I plan on coming back stronger than ever.. This league is hard up here, and hell be tested. A native of Orlando, Florida, DeJong attended and played college baseball at Illinois State University (ISU). See terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. I think the Milwaukee Brewers' offense is starting to show signs of life after finishing April ranked 17th in OPS (.673) and 19th in wRC+ (95). And, yeah, he wears a mask. Paul DeJong was one of three St. Louis Cardinals players who began the 2023 season on the injured list. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. He made his MLB debut in 2017. Updated: 10:27 PM CDT August 8, 2022. last time Flaherty took the mound for the Cardinals, he threw a season-high six innings and allowed a season-high four runs on four hits against Arizona on April 17. He hit more line drives than usual. Tommys having an incredible season for us right now at second, Mozeliak said. Paul DeJong's age is 29. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Youre never looking at rehabs solely on performance, but he has been playing well, Mozeliak said. @ JohnDenton555. Cardinals vs. Dodgers Recap: April 30, 2023, St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers - A game thread for April 30, 2023, Cardinals cant crack Kershaw, fall to Dodgers 1-0. Hes going to get some work at shortstop pregame. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. In that start, Flaherty retired 10 consecutive batters from the second through the fifth innings. 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. The club needs a backup shortstop who can spell Edman against some righties without sacrificing much defense for a contact-oriented pitching staff. Before his back flared up, he was limited to hitting only during the first week of camp as he recovered from right arm soreness. DeJong, meanwhile, was tasked with getting his career back on track in the minors. Do more work off the tee. Lets look at his AAA season to see if we can find a glimmer of hope in his tiny sample size of 40 plate appearances. But his offense was 20 percentage points below where he started. Thats why taking the time to start becoming comfortable with a possible transition now is so imperative. He finished the 2022 season with a poor .157 average. 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. 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. While Marmol declined the notion there was a set timetable for when the organization would like to see progress from DeJong, there was also a growing sense that the clock was ticking. Could Paul DeJong provide a 94 wRC+ or better against primarily right-handed pitchers while giving Edman time off to stay fresh defensively? Hes considerably better against righties than lefties. Thats not asking that much of him. 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. 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. Wainwright is scheduled to make a second rehab start with Springfield, which will come on the road at Wichita. The shortstop, who was demoted to Triple-A last year following two-plus seasons of hitting struggles, homered in his first game back with the Cardinals on July 30. 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. Heres a simple rule that Ive followed in player analysis: players dont change later in their careers. Yesterday, in the 4th inning of a 2-0 game, Paul DeJong hit a 2-run homer to put the Memphis Redbirds up 4-0. To create space for DeJong on the 26-man roster, Taylor Motter was designated for assignment. Both Mozeliak and Marmol have said before that when Gorman is called up, it will be as an everyday player. Its about sticking with things moment to moment. 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. Pauly D gives the #STLCards the lead with a two-run double! We feel pretty good about what Tommys doing at second at the moment, but (shortstop) is not out of the question.. Tommy Edman transitioned from second base to shortstop while top infield prospect Nolan Gorman took over at second. Rodriguez did not allow a hit or walk in the outing and needed just nine pitches (seven strikes) to complete the outing. After an All-Star season in 2019, DeJong's offensive performance has slipped steadily over the last three years. With two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees held a one-run lead. He was never very good at recognizing and driving non-fastballs. Over his four starts this season, Flexen has allowed 22 hits and 15 runs in 17 1/3 innings. Then, when Sosa was moved, DeJong returned to the majors to give it another go. Tired of DeJong? Give DeJong some credit. Wondering how the Memphis crew is pitching to see if they can pitch better? His walks stayed fairly consistent, helped by the rising number of balls out of the strike zone, but his batting average, barrel rate, and expected stats all took a nosedive. He would learn to walk more topping out at 9.8% in 20. By the middle of the month, he was the closer for the Yankees, the team that just didnt seem to lose. Of the four hits he allowed, two here homers. Next. Last chance! Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said the team plans to activate DeJong soon, possibly as early as this weekend. All-Star shortstop Paul DeJong apologized to Cardinals fans for his minor-league demotion, vowing to come back "stronger than ever" when he returns from Triple-A Memphis. In June, DeJong spent days, then weeks, then the entire month in the minors. During his rehab assignment, Paul DeJong (back) batted .302 and produced a .900 OPS in 12 games between Class Low-A and Class AAA. The Cardinals would prefer to stay away from using Gorman as a role player, unlike Donovan, Robertson and Lars Nootbaar. In that start, Flaherty retired 10 consecutive batters from the second through the fifth innings. Paul DeJong hasnt had a season with a batting average better than .200 since 2020 when he hit .250. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Donovan and Corey Dickerson are the primary left-handed bench bats for now, and Juan Yepezs fantastic start to his career has limited Gormans opportunity to be strictly a designated hitter. Coming off a 2022 season in which he hit .157 and was demoted to Triple-A Memphis on May 10, DeJong spent most of his offseason at the teams Florida complex reworking his approach at the plate.