Paul Sterling DeJong...Graduated from Antioch (Ill.) High School and Illinois State University...Earned his degree in biochemistry with a pre-med emphasis...Was a walk-on at Illinois State...Led the Missouri Valley Conference with 14 home runs in 2015...Played second base, third base, shortstop, right field and catcher throughout his career...In 2022, the baseball facility was renamed the Paul DeJong Baseball Training Facility to recognize his financial commitment to the university.
2024
Hit 24 home runs in 139 games between Chicago and Kansas City...The 24 homers ranked ninth among American League infielders and 41 of his 101 hits (40.6%) went for extra bases...Transitioned to third base, producing five outs above average in 41 games, tied for fourth in the American League...His 16 home runs before the All-Star break were the second-most by a shortstop in White Sox history behind José Valentín’s 18 homers in 2004...Slugged .449 with 19 of his 24 home runs against right-handed pitching...Posted a .482 slugging percentage (eight 2B, 12 HR) in 53 games from April 30 to June 29.
2023
Batted .207/.258/.355 (77-372) with 13 doubles, 14 home runs, 38 RBI and 41 runs scored over 112 games between St. Louis, Toronto and San Francisco...Began the season on the Cardinals injured list with lower back soreness, ending his streak of five consecutive Opening Day starts at shortstop...Appeared in 12 rehab games with Class A Palm Beach and Class AAA Memphis before being reinstated on 4/23...Posted a .291/.371/.616 (25-86) slash line with four doubles, eight home runs, 18 RBI and 21 runs scored over his first 25 games of the season (4/23-5/23)...Went 3-4 with a solo home run in his season debut on 4/23 at Seattle...Homered in back-to-back games on 5/17 vs. Milwaukee and 5/18 vs. the Dodgers...Was 2-3 with a homer, four RBI and career-high tying four runs on 5/21 vs. the Dodgers and 2-5 with a double, homer and four RBI on 5/22 at Cincinnati...Hit .207/.263/.321 (40-193) with 14 RBI over his next 56 games with the Cardinals and was traded to Toronto with cash considerations in exchange for RHP Matt Swanson on 8/1...Batted .068 (3-44) in 13 games with the Blue Jays before being designated for assignment on 8/19 and released on 8/21...Signed with San Francisco on 8/23...Went 3-5 with a homer and four RBI in his Giants debut that night at Philadelphia...Went 6-44 (.136) over his next 17 games before being released on 9/21.
2022
Was on the Cardinals Opening Day roster and the starting shortstop for the fifth straight season...Was optioned to Memphis (AAA) on May 10, after playing in 24 games with a .130 BA (10-77) and one home run with seven RBI...Played in 51 games at Memphis and batted .249 with 17 HR and 54 RBI. Ranked third on the Redbirds in HR and RBI despite playing in half the games of the players ahead in both categories...Was recalled from Memphis on July 28 after a torrid July, batting .366 with sox HR and 18 RBI, including a home run over his last three games and a seven-game hitting streak...Returned and homered in his first two MLB games at WSH (7/28 & 7/30) giving him a home run in five straight games between Memphis and St. Louis...Collected his 100th career home run by hitting a three-run home run vs. NYY (8/7) in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Cardinals a 12-8 lead and the eventual sweep of the Yankees. Hit a two-out, two-RBI, eighth inning double in the first game of the series (8/5) for the game-winning RBI...Became the second-fastest Cardinal to 100 home runs, hitting his in career game No. 572, besting Johnny Mize (582) by 10 games...Recorded his 500th career hit and scored his 300th career run at PIT (10/4). Became the 11th Cardinals shortstop and first since Edgar Renteria with 500+ hits...Played in 77 games in St. Louis and ranked second among Cardinals shortstops with 75 games (Edman 80)...Has hit 95 of 102 career HR as a shortstop, most in franchise history and ninth-most among active shortstops...Hit a 448 ft. HR at COL (8/9), his longest hit in 2022 and third longest of his career...Hit his final home run of the season at ARI (8/20), a ninth inning grand slam off Edwin Uceta. Did not homer in his final 34 games (77 plate appearances)...Ranked T-6th among Cardinals minor league players with 17 home runs and seventh with a .552 slugging percentage.
2021
Led all Major League shortstops in zone rating (.872) and paced National League shortstops in SABR defensive index (7.5)... Started at shortstop in 100 of 113 games played (St. Louis was 55-45 in his starts)...Hit 19 home runs, his 4th season with 19 or more home runs (2017-19, 2021)...His 96 home runs since his debut in 2017 rank 6th among primary MLB shortstops (Francisco Lindor & Trevor Story co-lead with 131)... Missed 24 games (5/14-6/10) on the Injured List with a left rib non-displaced fracture, suffered by being hit by pitch by Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta (5/12 at Milwaukee)... At the time of his placement on the IL, was tied for the team lead with seven home runs and 17 RBI... Posted two multi-home run games, both in April during the first 15 games of the season... Collected a multi-home run game at Washington (4/19) which was part of a grand slam and five RBI day... Batted .273 (15-55) against NL West opponents, 79 points higher than the next highest division (.194, 33-170 vs. NL Central)... Hit .207 (57-276) off right-handers and .163 (13-80) off left-handed pitching... Batted .259/.276/.815 (7-27) with five home runs and a 1.091 OPS in nine games at Wrigley Field... According to Statcast, barreled balls up at a career-best 10.6% clip (27 of 255).
2021 POSTSEASON: Went 0-for-1 with a strikeout as a defensive replacement in the 3-1 loss to Los Angeles in the Wild Card Game at Dodgers Stadium.
2020
2020 NL Rankings: Sacrifice flies (4, T-2nd)...Missed 11 games (8/4-8/22) on the Injured List (COVID-19)...Led Cardinals with 4 sac flies, his 2nd straight year in the Top 10 in the NL... Became the 7th Cardinal in history to hit a sac fly in both games of a doubleheader (9/18 at Pittsburgh)...Led the Cardinals in two-out RBI (11) and ranked 2nd on the team in total RBI (25)...Batted .273 (35-128) with 3 HR and 24 RBI vs. right-handed pitchers but .125 (3-24) with one RBI against lefties...Batted .343 (12-35) with runners in scoring position, 2nd-best on the Cardinals...Ranked T-4th in MLB with 12 bases loaded RBI (.500, 3-6)...Hit his first MLB grand slam at Cincinnati (8/31) coming off Anthony DeSclafani, while tying his career high of 4 RBI for the 6th time in his career (3rd time vs. the Reds)...Rapped out a pair of doubles vs. Cleveland (8/30), tying the team high...Went a career-high 26 games without hitting a home run to end the regular season (9/6-end of season).
2020 POSTSEASON: Reached base safely five times in five plate appearances (2B, 1B, HBP, BB, BB) in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series vs. San Diego, the first Cardinals shortstop to accomplish the feat and 6th in MLB history, 2nd in this postseason (Gleyber Torres, NYY); was the first to do so with just two hits and the 3rd Cardinal overall joining Calros Beltran (2012) and Lou Brock (1967).
2019
Established single-season highs in home runs (30), RBI (78), doubles (31), hits (136), runs (97), stolen bases (9), extra base hits (62) and hit by pitch (13)...Was the Cardinals lone representative for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Cleveland. Walked in his only plate appearance, stole 3rd base and turned two double plays at shortstop...Joined Jhonny Peralta (2015) & rookie Aledmys Diaz (2016) as the third Cardinals All-Star shortstop over last five All-Star Games...Led all Major League shortstops in fielding percentage, total chances, double plays, putouts and led N.L. shortstops in assists...Produced the highest fielding percentage by a Cardinals shortstop in club history at .989, surpassing the previous mark of .987 by David Eckstein in 2006...His Major League leading 119 double plays at shortstop were four short of the club record of 123 by David Eckstein in 2005...Set the Cardinals single-season marks for home runs (30) and extra base hits (62) by a shortstop...Has hit 74 career home runs, 2nd most by a Cardinals player in his first three Major League seasons behind Albert Pujols (114)...Hit 19 or more home runs in each of his first three MLB seasons, joining Trevor Story (2016-18) and Carlos Correa (2015-17) as the only three shortstops to accomplish the feat in MLB history...Has hit 27 of his 30 HR vs. right-handed pitchers, most by a Cardinals right-handed batter since Albert Pujols hit 28 in 2011...Homered in consecutive games seven times in 2019, most among National League shortstops...Was the first Cardinals shortstop other than Ozzie Smith to play 157 games or more at the position in a single season. His 157 games ranked 4th behind Smith who had three different seasons of 158...Was hit by pitch 13 times, 2nd most in a single season by a Cardinals shortstop since David Eckstein (15 in 2006)...Led National League shortstops in walks (62), was 2nd in runs (97), 2nd in home runs (30) and 5th in RBI (77)...Became the first Cardinals shortstop with 90 runs scored since David Eckstein (90, 2005)...His 78 RBI were most by Cards shortstop since Edgar Renteria established the Cardinals record with 100 in 2003...Became the 5th shortstop in MLB history (last was Starlin Castro) with 25 or more doubles in each of his first three MLB seasons.
2018
Played in 115 games, despite missing 45 with injury, sitting out only two games (8/5 at PIT & 8/25 at COL) all season while active...Missed 45 games from May 18-July 5 (left hand fracture), after being hit by a pitch from Luis García in the 7th inning and finished the game recording one more at-bat in the 9th inning...Has hit 44 home runs in his first two seasons as a Cardinals player, T-2nd most (Albert Pujols, 71) with Ken Boyer and Johnny Mize...Ran off a career-high 17-game on-base streak (9/7-24)...Became the only Cardinals shortstop to post consecutive seasons with 19 or more home runs...Established single-season highs with 68 RBI, 68 runs and 36 walks...Recorded 49 RBI post All-Star Break, 3rd-most in the National League (Yelich, MIL - 67; Conforto, NYM - 52) and 6th-most in MLB, while batting .228 over those 66 games...Tallied 22 RBI in the month of August, a single month high, ranked 2nd in the National League (Renfroe, SD, 27)...Hit 15 of his 19 home runs on the road, T-11th in the National League...Hit 10 home runs on two-strike counts, T-9th in the National League and 2nd on the Cardinals behind Matt Carpenter (11)...Hit safely in 18-of-last-20 games (.299, 23-77) and did not go more than two games without a hit after August 1...Hit first career walk-off home run vs. WSH (8/13), a 9th inning solo shot off Koda Glover; also his lone career walk-off RBI...Hit game-winning home run at LAD (8/22), 2-run shot off Kenley Jansen in 9th inning to break a 1-1 tie... Tallied a career-high 5 RBI vs. CIN (8/31) including his 15th home run of the season...Scored in a career-high five straight games (8/10-8/14)...Hit three home runs in the 9th inning, 2nd-most on the Cardinals (Carpenter, 4) and T-3rd most in MLB among shortstops...Had a team high 10 walks in May (T3rd NL), including career-high three vs. CHI (5/6)...Broke up Nick Kingham's no-hitter with a two-out single in the 7th at PIT (4/29)...Smashed a 464-foot (Statcast) home run at CIN (4/12) off Austin Brice, the longest home run of his career...Hit two home runs at NYM (4/1), his first career multi-HR game. Has hit 6 HR in 13 career games vs. NYM with 14 of his 20 career hits vs. Mets going for extra bases (.377/.411/.868)...Played in four injury rehabilitation games at Memphis (AAA) batting .308 (4-13) with a home run and two doubles.
2017
Finished 2nd in the National League Rookie of the Year voting behind Cody Bellinger (LAD)...Made his Major League debut on 5/28 at COL and homered in his first plate appearance, a pinch-hit at-bat against Rockies' closer Greg Holland, the 9th Cardinals player to homer in first at-bat...Led the Cardinals with 25 home runs, the first rookie to lead the team in home runs since Albert Pujols hit 37 in 2001...Ranked 2nd on the Cardinals with 52 extra base hits. His 52 extra base hits in his first 108 MLB games ranked 2nd in Cardinals history (Albert Pujols, 54), 2nd in MLB in 2017 (Cody Bellinger, LAD, 58) and T20th in MLB history behind the leader (Joe DiMaggio, NYY, 77)...His 25 home runs in his first 108 MLB games ranked 2nd in Cardinals history (Albert Pujols, 26), 2nd in MLB in 2017 (Cody Bellinger, LAD, 36) and T13th in MLB history with Frank Robinson and trailing the leader (Bellinger & Mark McGwire, OAK, 36)...His 20 home runs playing the shortstop position were 2nd in Cardinals history (Jhonny Peralta, 21, 2014) and tied Cal Ripken, Jr., for 8th-most by an MLB rookie shortstop... Named National League Rookie of the Month for July, leading all MLB rookies in home runs (8) and hits (28)...Set the Cardinals rookie record for home runs in the month of July with 8...Led the Cardinals in slugging percentage (.532), but did not qualify for the MLB leaders...Ranked among National League rookie leaders in runs (55, 5th), hits (119, 4th), doubles (26, T1st), home runs (25, T4th), RBI (65, 4th), extra base hits (52, T3rd), total bases (222, T3rd), game-winning RBI (5, T8th) and hit by pitch (4, T5th)...Had eight extra base hits in a three-game series (7/7-9 vs. NYM), the most by a Cardinals player in a three-game series in the modern era (post 1900)...Tallied four extra base hits vs. NYM (7/8) with three doubles and a home run, becoming the first Cardinals shortstop and No. 8 hitter to ever hit four extra base hits in a single game. Also became the first Cardinals rookie with four extra base hits in a game since 1935 (Terry Moore, 8/28/1935 at PHI)...Hit safely in six straight plate appearances (7/7-7/9)...Tied for Cardinals team lead with 10 three-plus hit games... Homered in consecutive games eight times with a season-high streak of three games (7/7-9)...Tallied an extra base hit in five straight games (9/26-30) with a double in three straight games (9/26-28), both were his season-highs...Posted the Cardinals single-game high with three doubles (7/8 vs. NYM)...Had an RBI in six straight games (7/21-26), the longest streak by a Cardinal and T4th longest in the National League (7, J.D. Martinez, Parra, Yelich)...Hit 38 home runs in 156 games played between St. Louis and Memphis (AAA)...Played in 48 games with Memphis, batting .299 with 13 HR, 34 RBI and nine doubles.
