Saturday, August 02

DENVER -- Slightly more than 1,000 at-bats into what figures to be a long career at shortstop for the Cardinals, Masyn Winn has seemingly shown who he is as a hitter. Good numbers, indeed, for a 23-year-old still learning to handle the rigors of playing shortstop over a 162-game season in the big leagues. But, not great -- at least not yet -- and that’s the rub with Winn.   

Before Tuesday’s game, he was slashing a respectable .269/.326/.389 this season, and those numbers aren’t far off what he did as a rookie in 2024. His strikeout and whiff rates have remained low over two seasons, but his walk rate has stayed at an unspectacular rate thus far. He’s shown that he has pop as a pull-side thumper -- as evidenced by his 15 homers and 32 doubles in 2024 and his seven long balls and 20 doubles this season, before Tuesday’s game.

Still, Winn said he expects so much more of himself, and he still thinks there is plenty of talent in his game that has yet to surface. The same goes for Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, who thinks the shortstop has the kind of bat control that should allow him to contend for a batting title someday. But that day isn’t today, and that day can’t get here soon enough for Winn, who has played through knee pain and expressed disappointment with where he is as a hitter.

“I'm definitely below where I want to be and below where I thought I was going to be,” Winn said while refusing to accept being a solid player on a Cardinals club clawing to stay in the playoff race. “I'm still out there. Obviously, defensively, it's been really good, but from the offensive side, it hasn't been as good as I would have wanted.”

Not only is Winn an admitted perfectionist, but he also has tremendously high expectations for himself. He demands of himself to be the face of the Cardinals and an MLB All-Star Game fixture, similar to Bobby Witt Jr., Francisco Lindor and Elly De La Cruz. Defensively, he is there already, ranking as MLB’s second-best shortstop in outs above average at 16 before Tuesday’s game. That, of course, is virtual miles ahead of established stars Trea Turner (10), Lindor (6), Corey Seager (2), Willy Adames (1), Dansby Swanson (1), Anthony Volpe (minus-2), De La Cruz (minus-3), Gunnar Henderson (minus-4) and CJ Abrams (minus-7).

But, for whatever reason, Winn’s bat has yet to catch up with a glove that might be golden following this season. He refuses to buy into the notion that he is who he has shown himself to be thus far as a hitter.

“I think I'm a great hitter, and I'm hoping this is probably going to be one of my worst years,” admitted Winn, who had three hits in Monday’s win and has opened the second half with a 9-for-17 (.529) spurt before Tuesday’s game. “Going forward, I have the opportunity to be a really good hitter. That starts today, it goes into tomorrow, and I keep working from there.”

Winn is confident that there is more in the tank because of some areas where he has felt a drop off. Winn has seen his average go from .281 in 2024 to .204 this season when he’s behind in counts, not including Tuesday’s game. Last season, he was second in MLB in two-strike hits (80), but this season he’s seen his average plummet 46 points in those two-strike spots before Tuesday’s game. And as someone who once proclaimed that he’d “rather face [left-handed pitcher] Chris Sale than any righty in the league,” his production has fallen from nine homers against lefties in 2024 to one long ball in 2025 before Tuesday’s game.

“I think there’s going to be growth from an approach standpoint and of what’s possible for him,” Marmol said. “I think this is a guy who could be at the top of the league in batting titles and spraying hits everywhere and then picking his spots. We see it sporadically, but a full commitment to it will lead to what’s possible for him.”

Winn admits that some of the reason for his 2025 struggles is because he’s looked to do damage more often in 2025. That’s a mindset he doesn’t plan on shedding any time soon from the sound of it -- something that has some in the Cardinals' organization worried about the disconnect between the shortstop’s goals and what the club would like him to focus on, a source said.

“Everybody wants to [slug]; they don't pay you in this league to hit singles,” Winn said. “They pay you to slug, and they pay you to walk. That's what everybody's trying to do. I’ve got to put more weight on, and hopefully that translates to more slug.”

Rather than thinking about his long and arduous journey to the big leagues upon hitting his first MLB home run on July 13 -- a two-run shot that lifted the Cards over the Braves -- José Fermín could only think about his father, José Fermín Sr., and the smile on his face.

Fermín made it to the big leagues briefly in 2023 and ’24, and he’s been able to stick right now as the Cardinals have had to battle through injuries to Nolan Gorman, Lars Nootbaar and Jordan Walker. It was always Fermín Sr.’s dream to see his son complete the journey from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, to the big leagues, and he helped him enhance his bat-to-ball skills by tossing him kernels of corn that he had to hit with a sawed-off broomstick.

Fermín was able to negotiate with the fan who caught his first homer by trading an autographed bat for the baseball. On Monday, he got that ball back from assistant athletic trainer Chris Conroy, who decorated the ball with all the pertinent facts from the momentous moment.

Fermín said he will present the ball to his father when the Cardinals play the Marlins in Miami from Aug. 18-20.

“My dad was my coach growing up, and he’s excited [about the homer],” Fermín said. “This ball is going home, for sure. My dad will be the one who is going to get it.”

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