The Cardinals have placed shortstop Paul DeJong on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 13) with a non-displaced left rib fracture, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports. In corresponding moves, the team selected infielder Max Moroff and moved reliever Jordan Hicks to the 60-day IL.
It’s unknown how much time DeJong will miss, though the obvious hope is that this won’t potentially lead to a weeks-long absence. DeJong has again been the Cardinals’ go-to option at short, where he has started 35 of the first-place club’s 38 games. The 27-year-old has had a tough time offensively for the second straight season, though, having batted .177/.277/.371 (85 wRC+) with seven home runs in 141 plate appearances. Tommy Edman figures to get the bulk of the work at short with DeJong down, leaving second base to Matt Carpenter, Katie Woo of The Athletic tweets.
Moroff, whom the Cardinals signed to a minor league contract last winter, will get his first opportunity with the team as a result of DeJong’s injury. The 28-year-old has appeared in the majors with the Pirates and Indians, though he has slumped to a line of .183/.277/.319 (60 wRC+) with seven home runs in 244 trips to the plate. Moroff has, however, offered nice production in Triple-A ball, as his .239/.372/.413 mark with 37 home runs over 1,215 PA shows.
Hicks’ placement on the 60-day IL is another blow to St. Louis, which won’t get him back until at least July 1. It’s not out of the blue, though, as expectations were that Hicks would miss six or more weeks as of May 10. The flamethrowing right-hander, a Tommy John surgery recipient in 2019, is battling elbow issues again.
Over – under, Moroff hits .200
Well he’s the hottest player in AAA after a week so I’m gonna say over.
Fitting that someone named Mendoza makes this post.
Under. The guy can’t hit big-league pitching.
Connfy-The true Mendoza line has been connfyoozed for 35 years.
As for Max,he is more off than he is more on.
He has played for the Indians previously along with the Pirates.I had some hopes for him when he came up but he has turned out to be the quintessential AAAA player.
The TRUE Mendoza Line is, as invented by me, the Kozma line. OPS below .600. First applied to Billy Hamilton. socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2014/04/can-billy-hami…
Thank you Socratic,but Dunn,Kozma,Hamilton,et al,while entertaining,are all wannabes.
Mendoza is the original,and will always be the best known,because it is the oldest and simplest to understand.
I accept the fact that it is 15 points lower than my lifetime average because 200 is the much easier number to relate to.
And no one remembers that I was a solid fielding classy shortstop and could remain in the ML as long as I did while maintaining a low batting average.
under. well under.
It’s irrelevant, carp will get all the AB’s
Seriously. If I were a conspiracy theorist I’d be wondering if someone in management hired someone to break DeJong’s ribs so Carpenter could play. Maybe just leave Tommy at 2B and let Sosa have a shot. I think we have a pretty good understanding of what we have in Carp.
From a .177 avg. to a .183 avg. Should be an upgrade right? lol
A .194 ISO and a 13% barrel rate tell me deJong has been hitting a lot better than his batting average shows.
hope paul heals quickly and gets back, although i would of like to see gorman get called up and see if he can play 2nd if edman is going to be playing ss.
Gorman has a 37% K rate in AA right now. He isn’t getting called up any time soon.
Edman will be the primary SS and they’ll continue to play you know who at 2nd until his BA goes under .100
Why oh why do they keep playing Carp? Might as well send Sosa down so he can play. This would be an opportunity for him.
Or why not Rondon? He is raking already at Memphis. Release Carp and move on. And please, no Albert. He moved on, so should we
To be fair, Carpenter still draws a lot of walks and has hit into a lot of hard outs, and it’s not like any of the Cardinals’ other bench players have been hitting any better. Also, none of the outfielders can actually serve as a replacement, anyway.
Carpenter is unfortunately the best of a bad set of options.
By the way, Moroff was also raking at Memphis and got the call over Rondon.
0-3 with another strikeout tonight. .267 OBP for the season. I’m just not sure he’s the best of a bad set of options. There may be options unexplored.
Also, can we do something with Tyler Webb?
TO BE FAIR TO CARPENTER !!!!! I’m so sick of hearing that!!!! For the past 3 years everybody has been overly Fair to Carpenter!!!
The ONLY THING Carpenter has proved this year is that 2019 & 2020 weren’t just fluke down years!!!!
2021 was supposed to be— According to John Mozeliak— Carpenter’s year to either drastically improve his batting average, and prove his worth or he’d be gone after May.
Red Alert—— he’s still here!! Plus he’s starting!! Sure he’s hit a couple of game winning home runs!!!
How many fielding error has he made that cost runs and games. Why won’t he hit or bunt regularly to break up the Carpenter shift???
If any player can’t hit over .200.
If any player doesn’t have the fielding range.
If any player refuses to learn to hit to the
Opposite field to beat the shift.
If any player refuses to swing at a ball until
they get 2 strikes on themselves.
They would be replaced or DFA’d to get
Someone who can achieve those
Standards.
Pinch hitter—- ok.
But “Never a starter” because he is a Rally Killer. Plus when he starts—- he weakens the team — Both offensively and defensively.
He’s Brought this on by himself by refusing to change to being more competitive as most older players do.
Should sign Pujols, he played shortstop in community collage when he was 22ish.
Yeah, Pujols is a prototypical SS … Seriously?
Hey, you’re dead
Joc-if She has indeed passed away,God bless her.
Please have her send what she baked to the immortal Pie Traynor.
Ed Armbrister’s dead.
Joc-Sorry-please have her send the pie to me instead,but only if it is fresh.Blueberry or cherry preferred.
I would pay good money to see this
Oakland manager Billy Martin once said, “If you ever see Shooty Babitt play second base for me again, I want you to Shooty me.”
Why not get Dave Chalk to suit up? Or Shooty Babitt.
Great Idea, Dave Chalk is probably in better shape and wouldn’t demand playing time. He’s probably pretty close in age as well.
As long as it’s not a serious injury and he comes back 100% this is a blessing in disguise. Schilt refuses to give him days off this will give him rest he needs.
I’d rather be a Moroff than a Moron.
Just heard on the Radio that Pujols has reached out to the cardinals and would accept a limited role
I say do it. I know it’s illogical, but I’m a fan not a baseball scientist. There are times the Cardinals look flat like they are going through the motions. Pujols was always intense. They could use some of his intensity even if he rarely sees the field. Nogowski hasn’t carried his ST performance over to the regular season and he’s 28 so not exactly a prospect. Let Pujols occupy his spot on the bench and retire a Cardinal.
Nogowski is on the IL, anyway. He wasn’t hitting even before then, though, so I wouldn’t mind sending him back to AAA when he recovers if Albert is signed.
Haha well AP would be an upgrade over Carp
Go for it! He’d be a better bench bat than anyone the Cardinals have now.
That’s nice of him.
Moroff was using the cheat code “God Mode” at AAA.
Did he get that AAA cheat code from Tyler Greene?
Would absolutely love to see Pujols back in a Cardinal uniform!
themed must have entered the thread because it now says “1 comment is hidden because you muted the comment author”.
carpenter gets another shot
Just for the record, Moroff played for the Pirates and the INDIANS, not the Cardinals, previously.
announcers said it was the first major league at bat for moroff than on tonight. woops, they were wrong.
Writer was having mercy on Tribe fans by avoiding trigger of bad memories. Probably special function of a spell check program alters any Indians utility infielder with initials MM.
Anybody but Carpenter. How long does it take to prove he’s a wash? The guy should be embarrassed.
Is or was Matt Carpenter a streak hitter?
Yes, but we’re going on 3 yrs of bad hitting. I don’t think it’s a streak at this point.
it’s still a streak, 3 years and counting
Oh I forgot. This is just an excuse to keep playing Carpenter. Edmunds Sosa might be good he might not be. Never gonna know I guess.
I see this as a final audition for Carpenter rather than ignoring Sosa or other options. If while getting daily reps he still can’t find a rhythm, they will cut him and move on. If he somehow gets hot for a stretch, no harm no foul.
as painful as it may be to see the step decline of matt he also earned his spot with his team first attitude. also it’s not like the cards really have better options on the bench or farm.
Since when does batting .239 at Triple-A qualify as “nice production”