5 things on my mind: The future of Paul DeJong in St. Louis is fading

Let's get into a little topic roulette with the noise in my head.

Paul DeJong looks lost at the plate. It doesn’t take Jeff Albert’s hair or a baseball rocket scientist to understand that he carries little threat to opposing pitchers right now. Yet, his defense keeps him in the starting lineup and getting four at-bats a night.

This isn’t helping the Cardinals, who are still managing to hold the fort in this second half heat streak, splitting with the Brewers before taking two of the first three games this weekend against Cincinnati. The bats aren’t that mighty and I won’t attempt to mimic Bernie Miklasz on his radio show yesterday, where the big dog in the afternoon drive hammered out the details for the sudden more .500 play from St. Louis. The big bats aren’t hot right now (Goldschmidt and Arenado), and no one is stepping up and filling the void outside of Albert Pujols.

August was a rocket ride. September has been an unsure roller coaster. They swept the Cubs, but could only manage a split against the beatable “we nearly lost everybody” Nationals. It took a mighty effort to win a series against Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee found the cheat code on Jordan Montgomery. The Cincinnati “we are so bad” Reds beat St. Louis on Thursday before losing the next two. But I digress.

DeJong can’t afford to snag too many starts at short with a waning offense. It was fine when he hit for 10 days and the rest of the lineup were killing bullpens. Now, he’s a rotten strawberry in a nest of still viable summer fruit. He’s killing the vibe with no drive at the plate, watching juicy fastballs sail by before hacking at the happy sack tossed towards the dirt.

It’s depressing. Nolan Gorman has been exposed during the second half against pitchers who were before him, and he’s no savant at second base just yet, but the tide and the upcoming turn reveal a desire to see him get some time at second. He has pop and can extend the lineup, which badly needs a stretch.

The Cardinals look great record wise and the Brewers aren’t making a comeback-if they had anything left, Milwaukee takes both of those games-but the Birds are starting to leak oil offensively.

Give short to the gold glove collector who couldn’t grow a beard for his life, Tommy Edman. Slot Gorman in at second base. Run with that for 5-7 games. What’s the worst that could happen? DeJong could go 1-23 (his last 15 games) again.

Here’s what else is on my mind, for the paying customers. You get one long bit, but need to give me five bucks to get EVERYTHING. If not, what am I doing here? Keep the film rolling.

~Monday, the associate copywriter position begins at Drive Social. Working downtown in the city I grew up in is a small pleasure that sits beside a mountain of feelings. Mostly confident positivity, but a fair mix of unsure nerves and office life expectations dancing around my head.

I love people and words, and this job features both on a daily basis. Still, like any human, I am thinking about all the annoying changes and not the genuine bright spots. Financial stability, sitting on the cutting edge of digital marketing, and being part of a team. As the Joker once teased, here we go.

~Two bands to think about listening to: The Black Angels and The Dead Weather. The former is classic hard rock mixed with a splatter of blues, and the latter is that as well dipped inside a punk rock stew. Each works for faster activity and just kick across a dull hour. They’ll be handy this next week, and the following eight… teen years of my life.

~Pay a visit to The Living Room Coffee and Kitchen in Maplewood, St. Louis friends. Nate Larson, a Brentwood School pal of mine from back in the day (that was a Tuesday to be exact), owns the expanded establishment down from Sutton Avenue and Manchester Road. Their menu is well balanced with classic breakfast cuisine. The workday sandwich is amazing, arrives with a health kick installed (grapes on the side and mixed greens on the sandwich), and includes some of the tastiest bread I’ve had in weeks. Get the eggs soft boiled and ask for the crispy bacon.

Tasty usual suspects like pastries, burritos, and other sandwiches like The Ed Sandwich (starring Gruyere cheese) and The Jenny, which features Havarti cheese and honey drizzle, filter throughout a breakfast and lunch menu. All of it sizzles. Go see Nate and company.

~My son turned eleven on Wednesday. A feat that is extra special because he has officially left the first decade of his life. For a forty-year-old parent, it’s a solid pat on the back. He’s such a well-spoken, overall articulate and introspective young man at a lick over eleven. Our conversations can run from movies and planes to donuts and drives, but they run deeper now too. He’s so aware and comfortable in his own skin, vulnerable in all the right ways. He’s far wiser than I was at his age. I was moving from Kingshighway to Brentwood back in 1993.

And now, I feel old. Thanks for reading and be safe out there. A sprinkle of kindness goes a long way.