Paul DeJong

One of baseball's most surprising rookie stories of 2017 belongs to Paul DeJong. While he seems to save his biggest hits for games against the Mets, the Illinois State University product has steadily impressed since taking for Aledmys Diaz. His big league career began with a bang -- DeJong homered in his first Cardinals at bat! (Becoming the ninth St. Louis player ever to do so.)
Batting in the .290s with 10 home runs, he's comfortably settled into the spot held in earlier generations by St. Louis legends Ozzie Smith and Marty Marion. I got my first look at DeJong Tuesday night at Citi Field -- when, of course, he got another hit to fuel a Cardinal rally.

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