This season, the St. Louis Cardinals have had a poor start. As of Saturday’s games, the team is 6-7 and in third place in the NL Central. Additionally, the Cardinals will be without their intriguing rookie shortstop Masyn Winn after losing starting catcher Ivan Herrrera to a left knee injury.
Winn’s back spasms forced him to leave Friday’s game. John Denton of MLB.com reports that despite his initial resistance to being placed on the injured list, he was placed on the 10-day IL on Saturday. The Cardinals aim to address his back ailment early in the season to prevent it from getting worse.
According to MLB.com, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol described his talk with Winn as follows: “He’s a competitor, but at the same time once we talked through it, he was like, ‘Man, I get it, but if this was a different time of year I’d really push. But I understand that it’s better to get this behind us and get it feeling good instead of letting this linger a couple of months.” Marmol said that Winn understood that.
The Cardinals lost shortstop Masyn Winn to a back injury
In his first full season as the Cardinals’ primary shortstop, Winn had a breakout season the previous year. In 150 games for St. Louis, he slashed.267/.314/.416 with 15 home runs, 57 RBI, 85 runs scored, and 11 stolen bases. Last season, he rescued 14 defensive runs, more than any other shortstop.
Winn confidently predicted that he would steal 30 bases in 2025 in an attempt to improve on his rookie performance. He hasn’t tried a steal, though, in 13 games.
Winn also had back issues throughout the great campaign the previous season. “It was comparable to the 2024 spasms.” According to MLB.com, Winn stated that his current injury was “actually a little bit worse last year.” “My muscles spasmed up, so I just need to get through this.”
Nolan Gorman, an infielder for the Cardinals, returned from a 10-day absence due to a strained hamstring. He will cover briefly till Winn can get over his back problem.
Winn was healthy for Opening Day, despite missing a spring training game because of soreness in his right wrist. Winn’s sluggish start was partly caused by his back tightening up on him over the season. In 51 plate appearances in 2025, he is only hitting.222/.314/.289 with one home run, three RBI, and eight runs scored.
