St. Louis Cardinals: Paul DeJong’s injury more serious than expected
St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJon is going to miss significant time, with a fluke injury now more severe than initially believed.
When it rains, it pours, and right now for the St. Louis Cardinals, it’s a full-blown monsoon of injuries. Thus far in 2018, they’ve sent 17 players to the Disabled List, with nine currently shelved with one injury or another.
A handful of those nine players are ones who are vital to the success of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018, ones they cannot afford to miss significant time. Unfortunately, that’s the current reality for the Birds on the Bat.
Take a look for yourself, and you’ll have a greater appreciation of what the St. Louis Cardinals have accomplished at the quarter mark with this plethora of injuries.
List of St. Louis Cardinals current Disabled List
- Alex Reyes: 60-Day DL. Injured last season. Tommy John surgery. Expected return. Late May/Early June
- Yadier Molina: 10-Day DL. Injured on May 6. Groin injury with surgery. Expected return: Early June.
- Dominic Leone: 10-Day DL. Injured on May 6. Biceps injury. Projected Return: Out indefinitely
- Carlos Martinez: 10-Day DL. Injured on May 10. Shoulder injury. Projected return: Late May.
- Tyler Lyons: 10-Day DL. Injured on May 11. Back injury. Projected return: Late May.
- Luke Gregerson: 10-Day DL. Injured on May 16 Shoulder injury Projected return. Early June.
- Carson Kelly: 10-Day DL. Injured on May 17. Hamstring injury. Projected return. Late May/Early June
- Adam Wainwright: 60-Day DL. Injured on May 17. Elbow injury. Projected Return: Out indefinitely.
- Matt Bowman:10-Day DL. Injured on May 18. Finfer injury. Projected early June?
- Paul DeJong: 10-Day DL. Injured on May 18 with a broken hand Projected return. Out indefinitely
Paul DeJong is the most recent addition to this dreaded list, after getting hit by a pitch on a foul ball in Thursday night’s loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. He stayed in the game and lined out hard to shortstop, trying to tough it out. Thanks to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for the inside information.
Paul DeJong having surgery tonight, plate put in. Will miss significant time due to fracture that needs surgery to correct, says Mozeliak. #stlcards https://t.co/XcZ8UntjkS
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) May 18, 2018
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Now it appears that he will need surgery and a plate to heal the fracture, meaning the St. Louis Cardinals will be without their starting shortstop for quite some time.
Even though the losses of Yadier Molina and Carlos Martinez are the most prominent setbacks, Paul DeJong’s production and steadiness at the middle infield position is one the St. Louis Cardinals will miss tremendously.
Up until missing yesterday’s game, Paul DeJong was the only Redbird player to start and play in every single game.
His .260/.351/.473 slash line, eight home runs and eight doubles are going to be difficult to replace. It’s likely that Jed Gyroko will get the first crack at shortstop, with Greg Garcia filling in the gaps.
Yairo Munoz is an excellent defensive shortstop, but his offensive “production” is well under the Mendoza line (.111/.200/.167) in his handful of at-bats at the MLB level.
Mike Matheny and company are going to have to dig deep, once again, embracing that next-man-up mentality they’ve grown so accustomed to the past few seasons.
The St. Louis Cardinals manager takes a lot of heat, but what he’s done with his depleted lineup this season, and even the previous two campaigns is remarkable. The fact they are within a heartbeat of first place and right in the wild card race is impressive.
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Will the St. Louis Cardinals be able to keep their heads above water until the likes of Yadier Molina, Carlos Martinez, and the many others return? All signs point to yes, but it won’t be pretty.