Cardinals: 3 glaring roster holes keeping St. Louis from World Series contention

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MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 21: Paul DeJong #11 of the St. Louis Cardinals throws out a runner at first base against the Miami Marlins during the fifth inning at loanDepot park on April 21, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) /

Above-average shortstop

The Cardinals want to give Paul DeJong all the time in the world to prove he’s their guy at shortstop. Being in the middle of a six-year contract worth $26 million, with club options for 2024 and 2025, will do that for a team.

In 12 games, he’s hitting .139/.262/.278 with one home run and a +69 wRC. He’s had a few flubs fielding his position as well.

Edmundo Sosa is DeJong’s backup. In four games, he’s hitting .188/.235/.188 and a +32 wRC. He fields the position very well, but really struggling at the plate.

In reporting from Belleville News-Democrat’s Jeff Jones, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said he wants to see the production out of DeJong that he knows what he is capable of doing at shortstop.

According to the depth chart, Tommy Edman follows Sosa as a backup shortstop. Brendan Donovan was brought up to the main club from Triple-A Memphis this week replacing Lars Nootbaar, who needed to get some consistent at-bats. Donovan plays second base and can back up Edman. Marmol has said he isn’t anticipating a need to have Edman play shortstop for the club.

Mozeliak was never going to take a bargain on one of the free agents available this offseason. It will be interesting to see how much time DeJong is given to prove himself. Mozeliak appears to be fully confident that given some time to reset, DeJong will get it together at the plate. For now, it’s frustrating to see him struggling again.

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