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St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong has an unusual profile, with high home runs and strikeouts and low walks. Two others in MLB history had comparable rookie seasons.
https://thecardinalnation.com/palm-beach-cardinals-notebook-2017-week-20/
Brian. That piece is a pretty strong cup of coffee. Sure hope DeJong is everything we all want to believe he is.
Kris Bryant’s strikeout rate was 35% his rookie season.
One key point is that there is a huge gulf between the careers of Snyder and Schoop. Would you be satisfied if DeJong’s career followed Snyder’s? What about Josh Phelps or Billy Cowan?
Bryant’s rookie K rate was 30.6 (you use PAs, not ABs), almost the same as DeJong. One big difference is that he drew walks at an 11.8 percent rate. DeJong is at just 3.8.
At least we have Diaz who is just as mercurial potentially…but farther down we have some seemingly capable SS options and a few quite intriguing ones…
I had my doubts about DeJong before the season, i didnt think he was ready defensively…i love eating crow on that…but i didnt doubt his bat…i knew the Ks were there, but i was more worried about the defense…which still has some work to be done, but is definitely passable and at times quite nice..
i didnt think he’d hit 20 Hrs for sure…but even if he plays decent defense as he has done this year…and even just hits .250ish with 15 Hrs…. that has value, and while not great it would be workable with other players like Diaz in tow
Instead of him being Black or White why not consider Gray? The polar argument just seems to further the belief that players are only worth caring about if they are ALL STAR centerpieces or worthless scrubs.
Dejong has already surprised many people, myself included, why not just let him keep playing and determine his value as it comes instead of projecting the value of his future failures or accomplishments
The plus side is that his walk rate is at 5.9% since July 1, although he is at just under 31% K rate in that time frame. 😉
Nice article Brian.Obviously DeJong has things to work on and he has improved somewhat on his walk rate.That said that if he stays at SA or moves to 3B her is hoping that whoever is hitting coach next season doesn’t screw up DeJong’s head and mess him up completely.
I like players who move up and improve at the next level. DeJong had 22 homers and .784 OPS last year at Springfield. 33 homers and .900 OPS at AAA and major league in 2017. Bad news is that his K rate is similar.
He seems to make good adjustments. They were getting him to chase up and in and down and away for a while, but he seems to have adjusted to that scheme.
One thing I think the Cardinals don’t do well is foul off the close pitches. While some do many just take a lot of third strikes looking at pitches too close to take.
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