OAKLAND, Calif. — It is becoming increasingly clear that any discussion about the range Cardinals rookie Masyn Winn has to influence the outcome of a game must be expanded.
His reach goes beyond what he does at shortstop.
In a win late Tuesday night that became an ode to Whitey Herzog and the resourceful baseball that was part of his brand, the Cardinals’ rookie shortstop contributed in ways that show how his skills fit that style. Winn made small ball do big things on the way to a 3-2 victory against the Oakland Athletics that featured all three runs scored by the Cardinals on productive outs. Winn scored one after a steal and a race home on a grounder, and he drove home another with a textbook sacrifice fly that turned into a decisive moment. He didn’t have a hit but didn’t need one to shape the game with his burgeoning feel at the plate.
People are also reading…
“I like everything I see,†said starter Lance Lynn, who allowed one earned run in his seven innings. “He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s very talented and he wants to be, and he likes it. You see it. It’s the stuff that’s not in a scoresheet. But it’s there. He does everything he can every night to be the best he can.â€
Winn entered Tuesday with three consecutive two-hit games and a team-best .370 average. He already has more multihit games in the past 10 days (four) than he had in 37 games last season (three). But it wasn’t a hit at all that revealed how much and how swiftly Winn has advanced so far early this season.
It was how he approached two significantly different situations.
He wasn’t up there trying to survive with a hit.
He was there to provide without needing one.
When leading off the third inning, trailing by a run his error at shortstop helped produce, Winn adopted the scrutiny of a leadoff hitter. He ignored a fastball on the upper edge of the strike zone, too high to do any damage with. He accepted a change-up in the zone and then waited out a walk to start the inning. He stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and he scored on Brendan Donovan’s groundout. The Cardinals did not have a hit in the inning but had a tie game, 1-1.
Three innings later, Winn came up with no outs, another one-run deficit and the bases loaded. He did look to spark a rally — he looked to assure one. When he thought he got a breaking ball he could lift, he did, 302 feet to center field. Winn’s fly out was deep enough to score Nolan Arenado to tie the game and allowed the other two runners to advance 90 feet and be in position to break the 2-2 tie on another sacrifice fly, this one from Jordan Walker.
“That’s how you play good baseball right there,†Winn raved after the game.
“He’s not trying to do too much,†manager Oliver Marmol said. “It’s a really mature at-bat (there). ... Even his walks today kind of speak to that. You have a guy who in spring: He needs to be more patient; he needs to control the stroke zone a little better. And we’re seeing all of it right now. He’s taking his base hits. He’s taking his shots when he needs to be. He’s taking his walks. And then running the bases, out of the blocks, he’s quick. Good stolen base there. He’s playing the game the right way. He’s bringing a lot of energy to this club right now.
“He’s playing the game the right way, and it’s impressive.â€
Throughout spring training, Winn did not leave that impression. A year after a strong spring led to his late promotion to the majors and his early pronouncement this offseason as the team’s starter at shortstop, Winn struggled. Through exhibition play this spring, Winn had only 10 hits and felt like he did not walk enough with five. He had more strikeouts (17) than total bases (14) in 50 plate appearances and a higher on-base percentage (.320) than slugging (.318).
“I went through about three different swing changes in spring training this year, so I was trying to just figure it out,†Winn said late Tuesday night. “I ended up going back to my Triple-A swing, which got me here. I felt a lot more comfortable. I struck out a whole bunch in spring training, so the biggest thing for me was just trying to get the ball in play and use my speed.â€
The results came quickly.
Winn had two multihit games in the Cardinals’ first five games, and after the Cardinals’ home opener and a 2-for-4 day with a triple, Winn had a .350 average. During this road trip, he’s started adding in walks with three already. Through the first five games of the six-game, two-city swing, Winn has reached base nine times in 16 plate appearances. It did not take confidence to get the production, his manager said. Rather it was Winn’s confidence even coming out of spring that led to the production.
“Sometimes you get some knocks and feel good about it, and you gain confidence,†Marmol said. “He’s come into the year knowing that spring didn’t go well. He said, ‘I’m a good player.’ And he played with confidence, and he started to get some results. It’s harder to do.â€
The Cardinals came Tuesday to Oakland Coliseum many hours after learning Hall of Fame manager and franchise great Herzog had died Monday. He was 92. A grandmaster of baseball strategy, Herzog reignited the Cardinals and their fans with his team’s captivating and charismatic play in the 1980s. He made pitching a priority. He made speed an edge. He made defense awesome, man. He played the turf at the Cardinals’ home ballpark in the same way Lynn pitched to the fly-ball-friendly dimensions of the Coliseum on Tuesday.
Before the game, Marmol told starting center fielder Michael Siani that the Cardinals “may squeeze today,†as in call for a squeeze-play bunt. After the win, Marmol smiled at how the Cardinals scored three runs in rallies that featured only one hit and added how he “would be lying if I said I didn’t think about (“Whiteyballâ€) going into the game.â€
Winn played it.
He took the walk to lead off the third and stole second to create a run, just as the Cardinals would have done in 1980s. He had to produce a run with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth, so he hunted for a pitch to put in the air and drive somewhere. The chain of events that followed produced the tying run and a faulty play by the A’s that allowed runners to advance and be in range then to score the go-ahead run. And then, in the eighth, for his final act of the evening, Winn spied the third baseman playing back and even hinted at a bunt. Classic small ball.
Next up: He won’t hint. He’ll do.
“Even bunting,†Winn said. “I probably should start doing that a little bit more as well because if they’re going to give it to me, might as well.â€