St. Louis Cardinals: An update on the banged up middle infield

Derrick Goold recently reported on the status of the St. Louis Cardinals middle infielders. There is a long time until the next game is played, and the pair is on the mend.

The article from Goold can be read here. Everyday St. Louis Cardinals infielders Kolten Wong and Paul DeJong are trying to get healthy while they watch playoff baseball. Hopefully for Wong, he will also be receiving a Gold Glove during his recovery. But that is a whole different can of worms.

As much as it will be good for Wong to get his rest, the Cardinals made an investment in DeJong and they need him to be as healthy as he can. I am a believer in the St. Louis shortstop, and it will be nice having a fully healthy player once again.

Kolten Wong

Towards the end of the year, we saw the issues with Wong’s left knee. That is what was being looked at. The good news is that the cartilage issue he was dealing with will not require surgery, just rest.

As Goold points out, resting is not something that Wong does a lot. He has played over 120 games in each of his first five seasons. The knee issue that arose caused him to miss a lot of games down the stretch.

Paul DeJong

Things are going as planned for DeJong, who had the plate taken out of his hand earlier this week. That means he will be in a cast, but will be able to do offseason workouts in no time, according to Goold.

That injury occurred in May. With the plate in his hand, his numbers at the plate dropped off. After hitting .277 in April, DeJong hit .217 and .202 in July and August. He picked it up again in September in more at bats, which was good to see.

Middle Infield 2019

Barring something spectacular, these will be the same faces in the middle of the St. Louis Cardinals infield next year. Wong will continue to dazzle with his glove, and hopefully DeJong will be back to the hitter that earned his contract.

It is good to see both of them trending in the right direction heading into the 2019 season. With them healthy, the Cardinals front office can focus on finding an everyday third baseman and a bat to fill out the lineup. From a lineup card standpoint there are at least two cornerstones of that infield gearing up for the upcoming season.

There is a lot of work to be done by the front office, but the St. Louis Cardinals need to be able to count on these two players being healthy. The playoffs just started, and there is a lot of time, but getting the regular lineup pieces healthy, and ready to go is important.