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I didn’t realize his offense was this poor.
MLB Worst OPS pic.twitter.com/1zFmSf1Ric
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) August 9, 2026
Winn’s three full seasons.
2024 .730 OPS, 104 OPS+
2025 .673 OPS, 91 OPS+
2026 .636 OPS, 82 OPS+Last season, his knee (which required surgery) was the explanation.
Just offhand I feel like it is a recurring pattern in recent years with Cardinals prospects who come up and do well for a year or two and then decline rather quickly.
I’m extremely biased when it comes to him because I love watching his defense so much. But he’s going to get pushed by some good prospects that are in the system if that continues trending down.
I readily admit I don’t go diving into stats, so my judgments need to reflect that. That being said, I watch nearly every game and this guy is such a vital part of this team. His arm alone has gotten us a ton of additional double plays that wouldn’t have happened otherwise, so I don’t know where there are stats that tell you how many runs we haven’t given up because a runner got stranded at third.
Eyesight tells me that he might not hit a lot, but when he does, they seem to count. His defense has got to be worth a ton to the team too. Didn’t we have a guy named Dal Maxville who hung around for many years? Did he hit?
I say we should keep Masyn for a while.I think Masyn struggles a bit with who he is or who he wants to be as a hitter and has now changed his entire approach a couple times, which is probably hard to do at this level – especially for someone younger. We saw him come up as a singles hitter, morph into an alleys hitter, morph again into a guy swinging for the fences, and now try to morph back into the slap hitting singles hitter with some elements of the alleys hitter. I think where he is now is probably the best place for who he is. Maybe he just needs more reps to get there? I was thinking he had been a little better the last couple months, however, the numbers don’t support that.
I also appreciate the value Masyn brings to the team on defense. But he is going to have to hit a little more to ensure job security long term.
A lineup can afford a couple of defense first guys in it – typically those tend to be SS and C.
You just can’t have 4 or 5 of them and expect to be good.
There is a new POBO but its still the Cardinals so it will come down to money. Winn’s first arb year is 2027. At some point a cheaper all glove guy will look good to the boss. Winn could improve with thebat or somebody could emerge from the system. The point is they won’t pay big bucks for a glove only guy.
Clearly Winn is a superb fielding shortstop and I frequently think how much superber he would be with a little bit stronger bat. Perhaps he could try losing some of the iron around his neck.
I do worry about his back and other injuries though. Right now he seems to be able to mostly play though the bumps and bruises but in 3-4 years what will it look like?
It took Ozzie Smith quite awhile to become a good hitter didn’t it?
I posted this in yesterday’s game thread:
Even though Winn got a couple of hits today he has been one of the biggest disappointments offensively to me. He is a wild swinger and a dead pull hitter. With his magical glove and cannon of an arm he could be a perennial all star if he had a better approach at the plate. He is starting to remind me of Javier Baez without the power.
Yes, gscottar, thank you for repeating that post here. Perhaps it was in the back of my mind when I saw how low Winn’s comparative OPS is.
Ozzie didn’t have his first 100 OPS season (MLB average hitter) until his eighth full season in MLB. However, by then, he had six Gold Gloves, five All-Star Games, three finishes in the Top 21 in the MVP vote and was second in the NL Rookie of the Year.
His offensive uptick occurred when he went to a new team and was encouraged to drastically change his approach at the plate after four years of futility with the bat for San Diego.
Now, in his third full season, Winn has a Gold Glove and declining offense. What will lead his change?
I don’t like using guys like Ozzie or Albert as any kind of reference point. Those guys were magical and don’t correspond to mortal humans.
Mason Winn’s batting line in 2024 his first full year
.267/.314/.416/.730
Wetherholt’s batting line as of now
.249/.353/.387/.740
Note that Winn takes it in BA and surprisingly in SLG. That is due to 32 doubles, 5 triples and 15 home runs totaling 52 xbase hits, 244 total bases. As of now Wetherholt has 12 doubles, 0 triples, 16 home runs totaling 28 xbase hits, 168 total bases. Wetherholt still has 50 games left in the season.
Winn’s defense plays big time and will keep him in there, but his offensive decline is a bit surprising. My thought is pitchers know his weaknesses and he needs to adjust. He is not the most disciplined hitter. I think if he would get his swing a little more compact – not swing all out so much and focus on “throwing the bat at the ball” rather than trying to yank the pitch he would square up better and see balls line off his bat rather than pop up as much.
Im going to have to agree with bling. Just follows a pattern of a lot of our guys. Good for a hot minute then just kinda burn out. Also like bling said,lets stop trying to compare guys to ozzie. Just no comparison.
The Winn/Wetherholt comparison is a glass half empty take. There is no real evidence to suggest that JJ will follow the same trajectory. He could but we really don’t know. Different players progress differently. I have more faith in this front office to develop players than the previous front office and to identify talent. One of the players in this discussion has a long term contract and one doesn’t. That speaks volumes as to what the front office thinks.
Also, as a comparison here is the stat line from another player in the NL. His rookie season in 2024 was:
.237/.286/.384/.670In 2026 it is .286/.388/.544/.931. His name is Pete Crow-Armstrong and he could very well be the NL MVP this year.
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