St Louis Cardinals: DeJong, Bader expected back relatively soon

The St Louis Cardinals are without two key contributors but Paul DeJong and Harrison Bader are both on track to return before too long.

The St Louis Cardinals have been dealing with plenty of injuries early on in the 2021 season. While not all have been equally detrimental, the team performed best when they were totally healthy.

The two biggest players out right now on the position player side are shortstop Paul DeJong and center fielder Harrison Bader. Both have been out for the same injury, a fractured rib.

While the team has had Edmundo Sosa filling in and playing stellar on both sides of the ball at shortstop, missing Harrison Bader has been the bigger issue.

On the IL for the second time, Bader being out forces Dylan Carlson into center field. While Carlson is fine out there, Bader and left fielder Tyler O’Neill being out (which he has since returned) makes the outfield a big weak spot.

Thankfully though, both DeJong and Bader are on pace to return in the coming weeks.

As you can see, St Louis Cardinals GM Michael Girsch passed on the news on 101 ESPN this week. Bader will have a clear spot to return to, but DeJong’s situation can become more difficult the longer he is out.

On the year, DeJong is slightly below average defensively and had just an 85 wRC+ before a Freddy Peralta change up cracked his rib. In his place, Sosa has had a 167 wRC+ in his spot while playing fantastically in the field. Sosa is not going to be this much of a valuable batter forever, but manager Mike Shildt is going to have to make the tough choice of whether or not to bench the hottest bat in the lineup when DeJong returns.

Having too many options is always better than too few, and the team will figure out who sticks at shortstop. No matter what, it’s good that DeJong and Bader are close to returning.