Cardinals Phenom Could Be First Since Albert Pujols To Accomplish Impressive Feat

The St. Louis rising star is making a name for himself

Sep 24, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) celebrates with designated hitter Albert Pujols (5) after hitting a two run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are known for drafting and developing players but it has been a while since a superstar emerged from their farm system.

The two most significant stars to rise from the Cardinals' farm system in recent years are Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, who could be next to supplant Oli Marmol as manager for St. Louis.

Fortunately, another Cardinals superstar could be in the making, with a youngster on pace to join Pujols as the last St. Louis slugger to accomplish an impressive offensive feat.

"Fast-forward to the final stretch of this season and (Masyn) Winn might be the MVP of the 2024 Cardinals and unquestionably a face of the franchise moving forward," MLB.com's John Denton wrote Wednesday. "He is trying to become the first rookie to lead the Cards in hits since Albert Pujols did that in 2001 (he is currently trailing Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan by one).

Although Winn's hit total (141) for his rookie season comes nowhere close to Pujols's (194), it's still impressive that he has the chance to finish 2024 with the most hits of any Cardinals player -- this includes five-time Silver Slugger recipients Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

Winn is batting .271 with 42 extra-base hits including 12 home runs, 49 RBIs and a .725 OPS in 135 games played for St. Louis this season.

Even though Winn almost certainly won't dubbed National League Rookie of the Year, he nearly became the first Cardinals player to receive the award since Pujols's incredible 2001 season.

There's a bright future ahead of Winn and it'll be exciting to see him develop into the star player he's capable of being.

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