Cardinals’ shortstop playing through knee injury with eye on first Gold Glove
St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn acknowledged to reporters Tuesday night that he has been playing with a torn meniscus in his right knee but plans to continue playing as long as he can tolerate the pain.
This has been Winn’s position for months, even as he was previously more vague about his knee soreness, and the Cardinals are prepared to allow him to make that call.
Both Winn and the team said medical personnel have determined he is unlikely to cause further damage by playing through the injury. Surgery will be required in the offseason, but recovery is estimated to take only four weeks, overlapping with what would otherwise be a normal quiet period in Winn’s winter routine. As a result, there is no perceived downside to allowing him to play through the injury.
There is little reason to doubt either the player or the doctors. The only reluctance comes from the general skepticism that teams are sometimes less than forthcoming about medical information — a reasonable suspicion — and from recent history involving infield surgeries.
Winn has been one of the Cardinals’ rare bright spots in 2025. Even as he has played through injury — which has likely affected his offensive production — he has put together a defensive season that seems likely to earn him his first career Gold Glove at shortstop. That is an achievement worth celebrating and protecting.
Winn was scratched from Tuesday’s game in Seattle because of knee soreness. He has played 1,107 2/3 innings defensively at shortstop this season, nearly doubling the statutory minimum to be eligible for the award. However, such a total is still uncommon. The last shortstop to win a Gold Glove with fewer innings was Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki in 2010, with 1,065. Besides him, only Jimmy Rollins (1,168 innings in 2008) has a similar total this century.
Voters reward players who stay on the field, and it is understandable — even admirable — to let Winn pursue that honor as long as it is safe for him to do so.
There is also little indication the Cardinals plan to sideline Winn and recall top prospect JJ Wetherholt for the final 15 or so games. Wetherholt recently missed five consecutive games for Triple-A Memphis with undisclosed minor discomfort, providing further reason — in addition to the Cardinals’ philosophical stance — to keep him in the minors.
The only remaining question is opportunity cost: whether a few extra innings might help the Cardinals evaluate options heading into 2026. But with Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan nearing returns from injury, there is little room for further promotions. César Prieto has already returned to Memphis after a brief stint in St. Louis, and there is no indication he will immediately return — let alone earn significant playing time.
Whether the Cardinals believe José Fermín and Thomas Saggese — perhaps one more than the other — can still make developmental strides is unlikely to be determined over the final two and a half weeks. By this stage, both are known commodities, even if their standing could still improve.
That brings the focus back to Winn, and the logic in letting him play out the string. The decision carries some risk, and if anything unfortunate — even if unrelated — happens to one of the team’s most promising young players, tougher questions will follow.
Still, there is value in experiencing how a full season feels. The Cardinals have spoken about growing young pitchers’ innings steadily so they learn to handle the long season, and position players benefit from that exposure, too. Learning to manage September — and potentially October — is an important skill.
If the Cardinals believe Masyn Winn is a core part of their next winning team — and there is no reason they should not — then allowing him to push himself, within medical approval, makes sense.
For years in St. Louis, postseason baseball was routine. Returning to that is a foundational challenge for the franchise’s new regime, and trusting their young shortstop is not a bad place to start.C
