Paul DeJong

Born in Orlando, Florida, Paul grew up in Antioch, Illinois, and graduated from Antioch High School. He went on to excel in baseball at Illinois State University, playing collegiate summer ball in his childhood summer retreat in the Northwoods League. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 38^th round in 2014, Paul chose to pass up turning pro and finish his final year at ISU, graduating pre-med with a B.S. Degree in Biochemistry in 2015. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals June of 2015 in the 4^th round, and immediately made an impact in the pros.

In his first week of playing professional baseball, Paul won the MILB Player of the Week award. He started the 2016 season at AA, jumping up over a level, and finished at the coveted Arizona Fall League, where he was named an AFL Fall–Star.

He made his major league debut on May 28, 2017 and hit a home run off Greg Holland in his very first at-bat on the second pitch he ever saw, his first big league swing of the bat. Paul set a rookie record for extra base hits in a three-game series against the New York Mets, and won the coveted NL Rookie of the Month Award in July 2017.

Paul’s hobbies include fishing, hunting, cooking, reading science journals, and spending time with his grandparents, parents, brother, and sister both in Florida and in the great Northwoods area of Wisconsin.