Paul DeJong Shows Off His Range

Best Player

No stranger to legging out a groundball to second base, Reds speedster Billy Hamilton was surprised when a rookie infielder went to his right, backhanded a ball, and still had enough arm to get him out.

“That’s not a play they make in the minors,” he said.

Paul DeJong wasn’t this player in the minors. In his first month in the majors, DeJong had proven so deft in the field that the Cardinals turned shortstop over to him, demoting Aledmys Diaz.

The 23-year-old DeJong earned the big league trial with a .299/.339/.571 batting line with 13 home runs in 48 games at Triple-A Memphis and an opening in St. Louis at second base.

The Cardinals knew DeJong’s bat had life and power potential—he hit six homers in his first 31 games for St. Louis—but they have since learned his glove has range and versatility.

“You could see the range plays with what he’s doing at second base,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “To see it at shortstop—that just lets us know what we got here.”

DeJong acknowledges there are grounders “people don’t expect me to get,” and that pushes him to reach them. He’s getting the chance to grow into the multiple-position starter with thump the Cardinals have coveted.

Biggest Leap Forward

When righthander Jack Flaherty arrived at high Class A Palm Beach in 2016, he had the look, the athleticism and the arm action to be the organization’s next elite pitching prospect.

What he lacked, curiously, was the performance. That kept Flaherty on the periphery of the organization’s Top 10 Prospects—until now.

With the manifest of velocity and consistency hinted at by his profile, Flaherty zoomed this season from Double-A Springfield to Memphis, where he already is one of the leading arms for a potential big league callup if a starter is needed.

At 21, Flaherty went 8-3, 2.30 through 16 first-half starts with 97 strikeouts in 94 innings. And he’s added more zip to his fastball, which now sits 90-92 mph.

“He’s been able to command his fastball, a real quality that he has that separates him from younger pitchers,” farm director Gary LaRocque said. “He works his fastball to both sides of the plate, and he gets himself into a lot of quality innings.”