WASHINGTON – Paul DeJong will join the St. Louis Cardinals in Washington D.C. as part of the team’s taxi squad this weekend.
Sources have confirmed with The Athletic’s Katie Woo and St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold that DeJong has joined the taxi squad. However, the St. Louis Cardinals have not yet activated him to return to the 25-man roster.
DeJong, the team’s primary shortstop for the last several years and a 2019 All-Star, struggled offensively at the beginning of the year. He .130 with one home run and six runs batted in before the Cardinals optioned him to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds in early May.
The 28-year-old shortstop made some improvements in his recent months-long minor league stint, hitting .249 with 17 home runs and 54 runs batted in over 51 games with the Redbirds. DeJong makes the trip to Washington D.C. just four days before the MLB trade deadline.
The Cardinals also activated Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Austin Romine from the restricted list on Friday. All three missed out on a two-game series in Toronto because they were not vaccinated against COVID-19.