ST. LOUIS -- While the Cardinals continue to wait for their top two hitters, Matt Carpenter and Paul Goldschmidt, to begin producing nearer their career norms, they’ve watched the player batting behind them emerge as one of the National League’s top offensive performers.

That’d be Paul DeJong, whose fit as a No. 3 hitter has proven to be ideal. He enters Friday having reached base safely in 15 of his last 27 plate appearances, as well as in all 20 games the team has played at Busch Stadium. DeJong also ranks among the league’s top five in batting average (.329), hits (48), runs (32), doubles (14), extra-base hits (22) and total bases (85).

DeJong’s ability to cut down on his strikeouts while also increasing his walk rate has been one of the keys to his strong start. After posting a strikeout rate of 28 percent as a rookie and following that up with a 25-percent strikeout rate in 2018, DeJong has dropped percentage to 17 through the season’s first six weeks.

How has he done it?

“I cleaned up my mechanics a little bit,” DeJong said. “That’s allowing me to see the ball better. But also trusting myself to see the ball better, knowing the pitches better and not trying to do too much [have helped]. [I’m] not getting myself out early in the counts and [I’m] just waiting for that mistake and not missing it.”

That patience and pickiness has paid off in a few ways. His walk rate is up from 7 percent to 11 percent in a year’s span. He’s also making better contact on the pitches he does put in play. DeJong’s hard-hit percentage (43) and barrel percentage (11) are also career bests.

The third-year Cardinals shortstop credited assistant coach Mark Budaska with helping him unlock this approach and better understand his swing.

“It’s just about trying to create a relaxed, tension-free setup, and the setup allows me to see the ball right,” DeJong said. “And obviously, the practice over so many years is taking over with the hand-eye coordination. I’m just trying to trust it, and not trying to create the results that I want. Just get in the setup and trust that if I get the pitch I can handle, then I’m going to handle it.”

All this has helped DeJong rise to the leaderboard in all sorts of offensive categories. In addition to ranking high in the more traditional statistics noted above, DeJong also falls in the top six percent of all NL hitters with a wOBA of .422 and xBA of .312.

Molina honored with Clemente Award
In recognition of the charitable work he’s done through his foundation, Fundación 4, Yadier Molina was honored as the winner of the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award prior to Friday’s game. Clemente’s son, Luis, traveled to St. Louis to present the award to Molina, who had been unable to attend the formal ceremony last October because of obligations he had coaching an amateur Puerto Rican team.

Molina joins Carlos Beltran, Albert Pujols, Ozzie Smith and Lou Brock as recipients of the Robert Clemente Award, which is considered baseball’s greatest off-the-field honor. Molina established his foundation in 2010 to benefit youth impacted by poverty, abuse and cancer. He was also deeply involved in assisting with humanitarian aid efforts after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico.

“This is a great honor for me and my family,” said Molina, who joins Beltran as the only Puerto Rican-born players to receive the honor. “We didn’t do any [of our work] thinking about this award, but receiving this award makes us proud of all we did down there in Puerto Rico.”

Martinez breezes through rehab outing
Pitching out of the bullpen for the third time in six days, Carlos Martinez struck out two during an 11-pitch scoreless inning for Triple-A Memphis on Friday. Martinez sandwiched strikeouts around a single, threw nine of his pitches for strikes and touched 97 mph on the radar gun.

The Cardinals anticipate having Martinez ready to return from the 10-day injured list sometime during the team’s next homestand. Martinez, who has been sidelined all season by a right shoulder cuff strain, will continue to be evaluated between appearances to ensure that he is recovering without issue.