The 6 biggest surprises from the St. Louis Cardinals’ first month

6. Paul DeJong’s putridity

This one probably comes more as a surprise to me than to many other fans. I expected DeJong to bounce back this season, and if I’ve learned one thing from this endeavor, it’s to avoid putting any stock in Spring Training statistics. DeJong was pulverizing the ball before the season, and I was starting to feel smug that I was correct about his resurgence.

Instead, DeJong has fallen flat on his face, hitting .130. His slugging percentage is one point below his on-base percentage (.208 to .209). DeJong was finally demoted to Memphis on May 10 to clear up space for the widely anticipated debut of…Kramer Robertson? Oh, OK.

I still have a sliver of hope left that DeJong can turn it around, but I won’t be surprised if this is the last time we see him in St. Louis. Another team might be willing to take a chance and see if he can turn it around.

The Cardinals are sitting pretty in second place in the National League Central right now. Not everything has gone to plan, but there have been some bright spots that Marmol will undoubtedly continue to emphasize. Baseball is a wonderful marathon full of twists, turns, peaks and valleys. Let’s watch and hope the next surprise the Cardinals have in store is a good one.