PT TOMORROW: NL Central —DeJong becoming entrenched as starter

St. Louis Cardinals

Since his late June demotion to AAA-Memphis, Aledmys Díaz (SS, STL) has done little to demonstrate he deserves to return to his starting shortstop role in St. Louis. Through 65 Triple-A plate appearances, Diaz has three doubles, two homers, and is batting .260. He was hit by a pitch in his hand on July 25 and will reportedly miss a week, making his potential return to St. Louis more likely to be weeks, rather than days, away.

When opportunity knocked (as discussed in this space on July 1), Paul DeJong (2B/SS, STL) answered. The 23-year-old infielder has displayed a big power (14 HR and 157 xPX) and low contact (67% ct%) combination through his first two months (183 AB) in the majors. He batted third in the order in...

Almost!

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