Cardinals Place Star Shortstop On IL, Active Slugger After Brief Stint

The St. Louis Cardinals won a big game on Friday night, returning home from a 1-5 road trip with a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Unfortunately, they were thrown a bit of a curveball early in the game. Star shortstop Masyn Winn exited the game after the first inning due to lower back spasms. St. Louis was forced to move catcher Pedro Pages to second base and put Yohel Pozo behind the plate.

The Cardinals announced their lineup for Saturday's game against Philadelphia, and Winn was not in it. According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, St. Louis has placed Winn on the injured list and activated slugger Nolan Gorman.

Losing Winn is a significant blow for the Cardinals. He got off to a rough start but was just starting to heat up after a strong weekend series against the Boston Red Sox. He even hit his first home run of the 2025 season in an 8-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.

Gorman was also off to a good start before landing on the injured list himself. He had been out since April 2 due to a hamstring injury.

The Cardinals get an extra left-handed bat back in the mix, but do lose one of their most indispensable players. No timetable has been revealed for Winn, but the star shortstop has dealt with various back issues in recent years, so it remains to be seen how severe this truly is.

Hopefully for the Cardinals, it won't take too long for Winn to return.