Paul DeJong

29-Year-Old ShortstopSS

St. Louis Cardinals

2023 Stats

AVG

.243

RBI

Rest-of-Season Projections

AVG

RBI

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2023 Fantasy Outlook

After losing the starting job at shortstop to Edmundo Sosa late in 2021, DeJong regained the job in spring training. It did not last long, however, as DeJong was sent down in May following a .130/.209/.208 start to his season. A National League All-Star in 2019, DeJong's strikeouts have climbed in recent years while his rate power has cratered, leaving the Cardinals little choice but to look for a successor. DeJong would smack 17 homers in just 51 games with Triple-A Memphis while trimming his strikeout rate 10 percentage points from his mark at the major-league level, but his struggled continued after his return to the majors. He's due north of $9 million in 2023 in the final year of the extension he signed with St. Louis in 2018. The team may eat that sunk cost outright if DeJong can't do enough in camp to convince the club he can be a capable backup around the infield. Read Past Outlooks

RANKSFrom Preseason

#599

ADP

Overall

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'0"

Weight 205

DOB 8/2/1993

Born Orlando, FL

College Illinois State

Drafted 4th Rd 2015 STL

Getting breather Wednesday

SSSt. Louis Cardinals

May 24, 2023

DeJong is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Reds.

ANALYSIS
This is a rare day off for DeJong, who has hit his way back into an everyday role with a .291/.371/.616 slash line through 97 plate appearances. He's sitting on eight homers, 18 RBI, three steals and 21 runs scored in 25 games. Tommy Edman will cover shortstop and bat seventh Wednesday versus Cincinnati.

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Batting Stats

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2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2023 MLB Game Log

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2022 MLB Game Log

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2021 MLB Game Log

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2020 MLB Game Log

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2019 MLB Game Log

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2018 MLB Game Log

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2017 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2021

+9%

OPS vs RHP

2023

+1%

OPS vs LHP

2022

+6%

OPS vs RHP

2021

+15%

OPS vs RHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2021vs Left	.611	182	18	6	15	3	.174	.269	.342
Since 2021vs Right	.666	581	66	27	73	7	.198	.281	.386
2023vs Left	.823	31	6	2	6	0	.250	.323	.500
2023vs Right	.817	93	15	6	12	3	.241	.323	.494
2022vs Left	.508	61	2	0	2	3	.151	.262	.245
2022vs Right	.538	176	17	6	23	0	.159	.239	.299
2021vs Left	.606	90	10	4	7	0	.163	.256	.350
2021vs Right	.694	312	34	15	38	4	.207	.292	.402
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Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2021

+16%

OPS on Road

2023

+11%

OPS on Road

2022

+17%

OPS at Home

2021

+33%

OPS on Road

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2021Home	.602	365	35	10	29	5	.182	.288	.314
Since 2021Away	.698	398	49	23	59	5	.201	.269	.429
2023Home	.762	46	10	3	7	1	.205	.326	.436
2023Away	.848	78	11	5	11	2	.264	.321	.528
2022Home	.575	109	8	2	9	0	.161	.284	.290
2022Away	.493	128	11	4	16	3	.154	.211	.282
2021Home	.582	210	17	5	13	4	.188	.281	.301
2021Away	.775	192	27	14	32	0	.206	.286	.488
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Stat Review

How does Paul DeJong compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.29

BB Rate

8.1%

K Rate

27.4%

BABIP

.275

ISO

.252

AVG

.243

OBP

.323

SLG

.495

OPS

.818

wOBA

.357

Exit Velocity

86.9 mph

Hard Hit Rate

39.0%

Barrels/PA

7.3%

Expected BA

.239

Expected SLG

.482

Sprint Speed

22.9 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

40.3%

Line Drive %

15.6%

Fly Ball %

44.2%

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

Games By Position

Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

DeJong followed up his power outage in 2020 with an equally disappointing 2021 campaign. A .216 BABIP had a lot to do with a bleak .197 batting average, but there were deeper reasons for concern. The most troubling part of DeJong's 2021 profile was a steep drop in average exit velocity, which tumbled to 86.3 mph - eighth percentile in the league. It would be tempting to blame a side injury that landed him on the injured list in mid-May, but that theory falls apart when considering that he was hitting just .177/.277/.371 across 141 plate appearances to begin the season. After splitting time with Edmundo Sosa in the final months of the campaign, and assuming the Cardinals don't make any moves to upgrade the position, DeJong should have the opportunity to earn back the starting role. However, drafting him for anything more than mediocre power with otherwise empty production would be a mistake.

DeJong provided most of his value in his first three big-league seasons by having above-average power for a shortstop, averaging just shy of 25 homers per year. That power collapsed in 2020, as he homered just three times in 45 games. Without the pop, he didn't offer much at the plate, hitting a modest .250/.322/.349, good for a career-low 86 wRC+. Even the positives in his statline -- his average and on-base percentage each represented his best mark since his rookie season -- came with reasons for skepticism, as his BABIP shot up to .340. That seems unlikely to stick next season, as he produced a career-low 7.5% barrel rate and a career-high 21.7 degree launch angle. (Flyballs tend to come with lower BABIPs.) DeJong needs to get nearly all of his power back this season to be an interesting fantasy option, especially as he's now stolen precisely one base in three of his four MLB campaigns.

DeJong is a perfect encapsulation of the 2019 season. He hit 30 HR, scored 97 runs, stole nine bases, and by wRC+, he was exactly league average at 100. Normally a shortstop hitting 30 homers is something to celebrate, yet what DeJong did last year was not that special. He has an odd trend going in that his strikeout rate has improved each of the past three seasons, but his batting average has dropped in each of the past three seasons -- more than 50 points from his rookie year. He laughs at traditional splits because 27 of his 30 homers last year came off right-handed pitching and he had a worse batting average against southpaws. The season DeJong had last year harkens back to an old fantasy favorite -- Tony Batista. Go look up Batista's 2002 season, and then look at the range of outcomes for him after that season. A similar future is in store for DeJong if something doesn't change.

Coming off a surprising rookie season, DeJong's sophomore campaign was a mixed bag. He missed nearly two months after fracturing his left hand via a hit-by-pitch May 17. At the time, DeJong was sporting a reasonable .824 OPS with eight long balls. After his July 6 return, DeJong struggled, failing to hit a homer until July 25, registering a meek .550 OPS in that span. From that point on, DeJong's power returned (11 home runs), but he reached base at a poor 30% clip. DeJong carried over his 2017 elevated flyball rate, while his HR/FB dropped a few points, perhaps a result of the hand injury, though his hard-hit rate remained above average. While his below-average contact rate and low walk rate render DeJong a batting-average liability, there's reason for optimism as his plate skills improved last season and were masked by a low BABIP. DeJong should be the everyday shortstop, and the power isn't a question.

In one of the biggest surprises of the 2017 season, DeJong led the Cardinals in home runs and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. A fourth-round selection in 2015, he was largely unheralded in the prospect community, having posted an underwhelming .260/.324/.460 line at the Double-A level in 2016. He garnered little buzz upon his initial promotion to the majors in late May, but DeJong solidified his spot in the everyday lineup and in the three hole in the batting order in less than two months. There are some obvious red flags, namely his 28 percent strikeout rate and 4.7 percent walk rate, but DeJong's ability to get the ball in the air consistently bodes well for his power production moving forward. Speed is not part of the package, but DeJong qualifies at shortstop and second base and the bat is probably a little better than most will give him credit for even after the strong debut.

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