Jose Rondon deserves big league shot with St. Louis Cardinals

While the St. Louis Cardinals have Paul DeJong is on the injured list, it will be interesting to see who gets an opportunity to shine. Jose Rondon should get an opportunity.

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong landed on the 10-Day injured list on May 14 with a non-displaced fracture of the left rib after getting hit by a pitch. Second baseman Max Moroff’s contract was selected from the AAA affiliate Memphis Redbirds to replace DeJong’s roster spot.

Moroff has only played second since his call-up, often allowing regular second baseman Tommy Edman to slide over to shortstop. Moroff and utility man Matt Carpenter have shared duties at second. Edman has gone back to second base and allowed for Edmundo Sosa to play short in one game, but nothing too consistent.

Moroff was hitting very well in Memphis hitting .538/.647/1.115 in 34 plate appearances, he had four home runs and 11 runs, good for a 340+ wRC in Memphis. It’s easy to see why Moroff was given that first shot to help the infield. He earned it.

Since his arrival though, Moroff has struggled. Moroff has no hits and three strikeouts in seven plate appearances, dropping to a -100 wRC. He also had a collision in Sunday evening’s game versus the San Diego Padres with right fielder Dylan Carlson, leaving him with a swollen, bloodied lip. He has definitely had a rough time in his short time with the club.

To avoid the hitting problems that can come with starting Carpenter, it would be easy to move Edman back to second and start Sosa at shortstop. In 19 plate appearances, Sosa has two hits, two runs, hit by the pitch four times, and he’s struck out four times. Sosa is mostly a good mid-game replacement off the bench to help with defense.