Masyn Winn reaches personal goal, joins elite company with latest HR

In Game 157 of a season where the St. Louis Cardinals will miss the playoffs, a third-inning home run off the bat of Masyn Winn will likely be forgotten in what has been a disappointing season under the Gateway Arch. However, the blast into the left-field bleachers at Coors Field was important for Winn, as it fulfilled a preseason promise he made to himself.

"That was my 15th homer. Before the beginning of the year, I said I wanted to get to 15," Winn said.

That 15th homer was also Winn's 150th hit of the season and moved him into some elite company, allowing him to become just the fourth primary rookie shortstop in MLB history to post 15 homers, 150 hits and 10 stolen bases in a season. The other three in that class won a Rookie of the Year award (Hanley Ramirez in 2006, Angel Berroa in 2003 and Nomar Garciaparra in 1997).

With a strong list of first-year players making impacts around the league, Winn will likely not even finish in the top three of this year's National League Rookie of the Year voting. However, the strength of his season and what it potentially means for the near future of the Cardinals can't be denied.

"Very impressive one, especially knowing what I know," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said when asked to describe Winn's 2024 campaign. "This dude plays through a lot of not feeling good. (Tuesday) was one of those days, and he goes out there and drives in four on a day that he easily could have said, 'Hey, let's take a day.' We don't win this game if he does that, and he's done that repeatedly."

While the 15th home run matters to Winn, so does another number in his stat line — the 147 games he has played this season, including Wednesday's start in Denver. 

"Especially at this point of the year, pretty much no one is feeling good," Winn said. "If everybody is fighting through stuff and battling, even though we're out of the playoffs, I feel like I need to be in there to at least show the team I'm still willing to put the work in every day.

"I think the biggest thing for me is I really like being on defense for my pitchers. I know my pitchers like whenever I'm out there. I think when I'm out there, they have a little bit more confidence in their stuff."

That comfort level with Winn in the lineup makes sense as the 22-year-old ranks sixth among all MLB position players with 2.3 dWAR heading into Wednesday's play. No other primary shortstop has a higher dWAR than what Winn has put together in his first full season.