Cardinals Veteran, Champion Has Major Praise For Rookie After Hot Start

St. Louis fans certainly should be excited about the young shortstop's potential

Apr 16, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) celebrates with / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals seem to have struck gold with rookie shortstop Masyn Winn.

Winn is the Cardinals' top prospect and was selected by the club in the second round of the 2020 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft. He quickly shot up the organization's farm system and made his big league debut toward the end of the 2023 season.

The young shortstop struggled in the small sample size, but won the club's everyday job in Spring Training and certainly has made the most of it so far. Winn arguably has been St. Louis' best hitter and is slashing .362/.396/.489 with a league-leading two triples in 16 games played. On top of his stellar offensive play, he arguably has been even better defensively.

Winn has done a little bit of everything and is catching the eye of some of his teammates. Cardinals veteran hurler and 2011 World Series champion Lance Lynn certainly likes what he's seeing from Winn and had some high praise for him, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold.

"Winn made small ball do big things on the way to a 3-2 victory against the Oakland Athletics that featured three runs scored by the Cardinals all on productive outs," Goold said. "Winn scored one after a steal and a race home on a grounder, and he drove home another with a textbook sacrifice fly that turned into a decisive moment. He didn't have a hit but didn't need one to shape the game with his burgeoning feel at the plate.

"I like everything that I see," Lynn said as transcribed by Goold. "He just needs to keep doing what he's doing. He's very talented and he wants to be, and he likes it. You see it. It's the stuff that's not in a scoresheet. But it's there. He does everything he can every night to be the best he can."

St. Louis may just be 9-9 on the season so far, but the club has a bright future and Winn is a major reason why.

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