The St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong is the major league’s most unlikely slick-fielding shortstop, with yet another metric, Statcast’s Outs Above Average (OAA), confirming his above-average glove work in 2019.
Not bad for a converted third baseman who played just one game at shortstop from the 2013 college season to the tail-end of the 2016 minor-league season, and then only moved to shortstop because, as Baseball America reported, “the Cardinals didn’t really have another option” at the position.
At Illinois State, DeJong played second base, third base, catcher, right field, designated hitter — and once at shortstop.