St. Louis Cardinals: Paul DeJong vs. the shortstops of the NL Central

Moving on to the shortstop portion of our NL central position rankings, we examine where St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong stacks up.

On Tuesday, we found that the St. Louis Cardinals had the best second baseman in the NL Central in Kolten Wong.

Today, we are going to shift to the other member of the up-the-middle tandem. This is another position in the NL Central that has a ton of talent from top to bottom.

With the exception of one team, there are studs at shortstop. So, where does Paul DeJong rank?

5. Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers have the only shortstop in the NL Central who had a negative bWAR in 2019. At this position in the NL Central, that easily puts them and Orlando Arcia in the fifth.

At the plate, Arcia batted just .223 hitting 15 bombs with a .633 OPS. This all combined for a putrid 61 wRC+. Defensively, Arcia had +2 DRS, -4 OAA, and a -0.9 UZR in 2019 which signals he’s pretty average with the glove.

This winter, the Brewers brought Eric Sogard and Brock Holt which may signal that Arcia’s leash will be very short, or that he will be in a timeshare at shortstop. No matter which of the trio is out there, shortstop is not a strong position for the Brewers.

4. Cincinnati Reds

The Reds moved on from Jose Iglesias this past offseason and now have 30-year-old Freddy Galvis. Galvis was solid in 2019 splitting time between the Blue Jays and the Reds. On the season as a whole, Galvis batted .260 with just a .734 OPS, but he showed some pop with 23 homers. He still had just an 89 wRC+ however.

Defensively, Galvis had +4 DRS, -1.7 UZR, and a stellar +11 OAA on the year.

His glove accounted for the majority of his 1.4 fWAR, but that is just fine in the potent Cincinnati offense.

3. Pittsburgh Pirates

Another list where the Pirates grade out well! Look at that! Quietly, Kevin Newman had a very good year in 2019. With a .308 batting average and an .800 OPS, his 110 wRC+ was hidden in the depths of the NL Central standings. Newman doesn’t have a ton of power with just 38 XBH in 2019, but he stole 16 bases and got on base at a .353 clip.

The 25-year-old could use some work with the glove after a season of 0 DRS, a -5.2 UZR, and -8 OAA, but his offense will keep him in the lineup.

2. St. Louis Cardinals

Paul DeJong deserves so much credit for the player he has become, and for the player that all signs point to him becoming in 2020 and beyond. After being picked in the 4th round of the 2015 draft, DeJong improved his defense to jump from a left fielder, to a third baseman, to now being among the best defensive shortstops in the entire league, all while maintaining a stellar offensive profile.

DeJong got worn out in the end of 2019, and his .233 batting average and .762 OPS don’t look great, but change is coming. Why am I so confident? As I wrote in this article, in each of DeJong’s three years in the league, DeJong has steadily decreased his strikeout rate and increased his walk rate, all while keeping his power at the plate.

His 62 XBH with a 9.3% walk rate and 22.4% strikeout rate scream a hitter who deserves better than a .233 batting average. The key to DeJong’s 2019 offense was his .259 BABIP stemming largely from a below-average exit velocity. An approach like what he showed last year will pay off eventually though, and his 100 wRC+ will definitely go up in 2020.

DeJong’s true value in 2019 came from his defense. With the updated DRS numbers taken into account, DeJong tied the much flashier Javier Baez at shortstop defense. His 11.4 UZR is elite level, as was his 13 OAA. DeJong may not get the credit for it, but his 4.1 fWAR was well earned in his age 26 season and I am so excited to see how good he can get.