Wong heads to DL, expects quick recovery

ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong was placed on the 10-day disabled list Thursday with a right triceps strain, while infielder Paul DeJong was recalled from Triple-A Memphis.
Wong exited Wednesday's loss to the Brewers before the sixth inning, and was replaced by Greg Garcia.
"Fortunately, we did get a look at [the injury] early enough to get him into the rehab process, and, hopefully, put it behind him," manager Mike Matheny said. "Just a shame, because he'd really been doing a nice job, especially at the plate."
Wong returns to the DL after just coming off of it on June 9. He missed 13 games from May 27-June 8 while recovering from a left elbow injury. His triceps strain originally occurred in a rehab game on June 8 with Class A Advanced Peoria.
Part of Wong's injury may have come from him focusing on the problem with his left arm, which may have resulted in the right arm not receiving enough attention. He felt tightness around his elbow through the week, but thought it was nothing significant until Wednesday.
"I think it's probably just a string of events that led to it," said Wong, who is eligible to return June 25. "Battling this since Peoria, thought eventually it would go away. [It] didn't seem like anything of concern until last night with that check swing, and I tried to turn a double play in the next inning and it was just a super sharp pain, kind of knew something was up."

Wong had recorded hits in all six games since coming off the DL, and has a .301 batting average. The injury is not expected to take much more than the 10 days to heal.
"I feel like I've been really taking a turn with my swing, and understanding how to get pressure at-bats," Wong said. "It's tough to kind of take a step back, but I know where I am as a player. I know what's making me successful, it's not coincidence or luck. I know what I've been doing, and it's been working."
DeJong started at second base for Thursday night's series finale. He performed well in his first stint in the Major Leagues, including homering in his first at-bat on May 28 in Colorado. He batted .244 (10-for-41) in 12 games.
"Felt like I went through a lot those first couple weeks. I had time to process the information," DeJong said. "I was just thinking about hitting, and how they were attacking me. Those are the things I was thinking about, trying to implement [that] starting tonight."