ST. LOUIS — Things are starting to return to normal for the Cardinals. Well, as normal as 2020 will allow. The team is back to actually playing baseball after a more than two week hiatus due to positive COVID-19 tests.
All-star shortstop Paul DeJong was one of 10 players on the team to test positive in the past few weeks, and is now beginning to work himself back onto the field.
5 On Your Side sports director Frank Cusumano talked with DeJong on Wednesday, before he headed to the Springfield alternate training site.
The 27-year-old all-star is back to doing baseball activities and feeling back to normal. DeJong said aside from a few nights with a fever, his symptoms were pretty mild.
"It was my birthday actually in Milwaukee on Aug. 2. I had a bad feeling waking up to a text from one of my trainers saying 'hey can you call me about your COVID results?' It is what it is," DeJong said. "I felt bad for a couple days. Mild symptoms. Very much in control the whole time. I'm thankful that it didn't spiral out of control and that I'm able to continue this season..."
DeJong said watching his teammates get back to playing games has also helped him start to feel back to normal as well.
"I'm feeling much better. I went through a couple of bad days, but jumped through all of the hoops to get back and I'm excited. My mood's completely changed now that I have baseball activities under my belt and seeing the boys play is uplifting my spirits," DeJong said.
While he was quarantined in his St. Louis apartment, DeJong did what he could to stay active and sharp. He worked on his stretching, and even got creative to work on some baseball-related things.
"I have a wiffleball pitching machine that I set up in my apartment and was kind of making some ground balls for myself. Shout out to Kolten Wong for the idea. I saw he had one. He has a little more room in his basement to take swings, I don't have that much room in my apartment, I'd be breaking lights and stuff," DeJong said.
But now DeJong doesn't have to get creative about training from home. He's been working out a Busch Stadium for the past few days, and is heading to Springfield to get some at-bats in before he returns to the big club.
While in quarantine, DeJong has binged some old movies and caught up on his reading, but he's also had some time to reflect on this whole experience, and how much he'll appreciate the chance to get back onto the field wearing the birds on the bat.
"Everything is part of the journey. And I try to take something out of all my experience. And this one it was perspective... When I can finally return I will have a deeper perspective on what it means to be out there wearing that uniform," DeJong said.
"Being stuck here in this quarantine I got a lot of perspective on who I think I am as a player, what I think I can bring to this organization and how I think I fit in with this team and how we're going to win this division."