Paul DeJong Could Hit Third For Cardinals
6 years agoSt. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong, who has hit 44 home runs in the last year and a half over 223 games, could be the team's third hitter in 2019. He hit 19 home runs and had 68 RBI while hitting .241 last year after slugging 25 long balls and hitting .285 in his rookie year. DeJong was great at hitting with runners on base last year (.288 average, .876 OPS), but he hit just .210 with a .669 OPS with nobody on. He hit .228 in the second half but was third in the National League with 49 RBI. Matt Carpenter and Paul Goldschmidt figure to be the first two hitters in the lineup. Marcell Ozuna and Yadier Molina are likely to hit fourth and fifth, respectively. DeJong hit only .223 as the third hitter last year, but the year before he hit .292 with 11 of his 25 homers and an .855 OPS in the third spot. He also missed 45 games last year due to a fractured finger, and it might've played a big part in his poor second half. DeJong has power and is a bounce-back candidate for his power in the later rounds of drafts.
Source: St. Louis Baseball Weekly - Rick Hummel
Source: St. Louis Baseball Weekly - Rick Hummel