Cardinals' Paul DeJong: On track for Thursday activation
DeJong (hand) went 2-for-4 with a double, a solo home run, a walk and two runs in Triple-A Memphis' win over Iowa on Tuesday. He remains on track to be activated prior to Thursday's series opener against the Giants, Jack Magruder of MLB.com reports.
DeJong bounced back nicely after striking out twice in Monday's contest against Iowa. The 24-year-old was able to make solid progress over the last few weeks, with manager Mike Matheny coming away impressed while watching DeJong take batting practice recently in Milwaukee when the shortstop joined the team on a road trip. DeJong has gone through an extensive battery of tests as part of his rehab as well, which has included measuring his grip strength to make sure it's back to pre-injury levels. If DeJong is indeed activated Thursday, he'll have missed a total of 44 games with his injury.