One year to the day of his major league debut, Cardinals rookie Masyn Winn stood by his locker at Busch Stadium as the team’s everyday shortstop, leadoff hitter and part of a young duo that has grown into the offensive nerve center of the club, and he explained how he has come to embrace the role as well as the responsibility.
“When we’re losing, not playing well, there’s definitely some pressure,†Winn said. “Especially whenever I’m struggling, I feel like a lot of that is on me if I go 0-for and we take an L. If would have gotten a double or I would’ve gotten a single, I might have scored. That’s definitely one thing I think about.â€
With the cornerstone veteran stars on the roster, former MVP and seven-time All-Star Paul Goldschmidt and eight-time All-Star Nolan Arenado, having down years in terms of their offensive production, that’s put Winn and Alec Burleson in the rare situation of being the offensive motor of a Cardinals team expected to compete for a playoff berth.
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Of the Cardinals who have enough at-bats to qualify for a batting title, Burleson (.772) and Winn (.744) lead the team in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). With just 38 games remaining, it’s undeniable that the key figures in the Cardinals offense throughout the season have been the 22-year-old rookie shortstop Winn and the 25-year-old left-handed-hitting slugger Burleson, who is playing on an everyday basis for the first time in his career.
The caveat to that being that catcher Willson Contreras missed nearly seven weeks after New York Mets slugger J.D. Martinez put a bat where Conteras’ forearm was and sent Contreras to the injured list with a fractured arm. Contreras, who currently has an OPS of .850 in 79 games, was the club’s leading hitter when he got hurt.
An un-Cardinals-like scenario
Through the years, the Cardinals have relied on a mixture of veteran hitters and rising young talents to provide offensive production. There aren’t many, if any, comparable pairs that have led the way offensively with a similar lack of major league experience.
Back in 2017, Tommy Pham and then rookie shortstop Paul DeJong were arguably the two most productive hitters in the everyday lineup. However, Pham had been in the majors for parts of three previous seasons at that point and was 29 years old.
In the early 2000s, Albert Pujols’ legendary career began, and he immediately became one of the most feared hitters in the majors. Of course, established players such as Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen and J.D. Drew helped shoulder the offensive load in Pujols first few seasons.
Going back to the early 1990s might provide the closest comparison to the present-day duo. Neither Bernard Gilkey nor Ray Lankford were rookies, but that combination led the 1992 club in OPS while both were 25 years old.
Lankford debuted in 1990 and played 151 games the next season (135 starts), leading into the 1992 season.
Gilkey also debuted in 1990, and he’d moved into the staring role during the 1991 season. Gilkey started 71 of the 81 games he appeared in during the 1991 season.
Almost all of the standout young players through the years were sharing the bulk of the offensive load with highly productive veterans as opposed rookies or even other young players. Keith Hernandez had Ted Simmons and Willie Crawford in his first few seasons with the birds on the bat across his chest.
The rising young Cardinals stars of the 1950s like Joe Cunningham and Wally Moon were certainly highly productive hitters, but there’s a statue standing in front of Busch Stadium for the veteran star who was the offensive leader and face of the franchise in those days. That, of course is Stan Musial.
Not what was drawn up but what was needed
Entering spring training, it remained a serious question whether Winn would hit enough to warrant everyday playing time. Even he admits that he went into this season expecting to be “the defensive guy.â€
Meanwhile, the veteran additions of Matt Carpenter and Brandon Crawford made it unclear if Burleson would have a spot on the roster when the Cardinals broke camp.
Injuries to outfielders Lars Nootbaar, Tommy Edman and Dylan Carlson helped facilitate Burleson’s place on the roster, and he’s made himself irreplaceable this season.
Burleson, who has already started more games this season than in the previous two seasons combined, leads the team in home runs (21), RBIs (70) and batting average (.277). His production this season would seemingly make him a candidate to succeed Goldschmidt as the everyday first baseman in the future.
Winn, a rookie who appeared in just 37 games last season, has the team’s second-highest batting average (.274), is tied for the team lead in runs scored (59), second in stolen bases (10) and tied for the second-most hits (119).
For the most part, they’ve settled into the top two spots in the Cardinals batting order. Winn has made 307 of his 474 plate appearances this season out of the leadoff spot in the order.
Burleson has made 257 of his 449 plate appearances this season while batting in the No. 2 hole in the lineup. This season, Burleson has registered 16 of his 21 home runs as well as 48 of his 70 RBIs while batting out of the No. 2 spot in the Cardinals lineup.
“It’s not how we broke spring as far as what it was going to look like, but they’ve both stepped into those roles and did a really nice job of just setting the table,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “I think part of it is starting the game with two difficult at-bats when it comes to guys with high bat-to-ball skills that aren’t going to punch out. They’re going to give you a tough at-bat. They’re going to grind out every pitch.â€
So far this season, Burleson ranks among the 95th percentile of MLB players in strikeout rate (13.1%) and the 75th percentile in whiff rate (20.3%). Burleson entered Monday with the fourth-highest RBI total in the majors (52) since June 1.
Entering Monday, Winn’s 61 hits with two strikes were tied for the third-most in the majors with Kansas City shortstop and American League MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. Winn’s .257 batting average with two strikes also ranked sixth in the majors, and his .388 slugging percentage was 10th-best.
A welcome responsibility
Perhaps nobody in the Cardinals clubhouse knows better than Arenado the pressure of having just gotten your feet under you as a big league ballplayer, only to be thrust into the role of being counted on to produce on a daily basis.
Arenado has been impressed with what Burleson and Winn have done this season, and he lauded them for how they go about their daily routines, the process of preparing to play everyday and that allowing them to “react†and “trust themselves†once the games start.
Arenado debuted at age 22 with the Colorado Rockies in 2013, and by 2015, he was the centerpiece of the club’s lineup. Arenado produced at an elite level starting with his 42-homer, 130-RBI season in 2015, the first of five consecutive seasons of no fewer than 37 home runs and 110 RBIs.
The Rockies teams in Arenado’s first few seasons didn’t have the expectation to compete for a playoff spot annually.
“It’s not easy to be a young guy and basically set the tone for a team, but they don’t care about those things,†Arenado said. “They just care about going out there and performing, playing hard. They do a really good job of that.â€
Burleson, a former college All-American and two-way player at East Carolina University, explained that the pressure and responsibility of being counted on aren’t new. It’s doing it at the majors that has been the new wrinkle.
“Obviously, doing it at the big league level is different, but I feel like that’s kind of been who we were through our whole careers,†Burleson said. “We’ve kind of — throughout the minors (were those players). And for me throughout college, I was the guy that: ‘We need you to go so that we can go as an offense.’â€
Drafted 70th overall in 2020, Burleson cruised through the minors in just 228 games. In 2022, Burleson won the International League (Triple-A) batting title, batted .331, slugged .532 and smashed 20 home runs.
“I think we have that kind of comfortability that we’ve kind of owned that before, owned that in the past,†Burleson said. “Obviously, doing at the big league level is a different story than college or the minor leagues.
“But I kind of had that comfortability that I’ve been in that position before. I’ve kind of been a spark plug for the offense. He’d probably say the same thing. It’s different, but that’s who you want to be. That’s the offensive guy you want to be in the big leagues. You just own it, and you just run with it.â€
Winn, drafted out of high school in 2020 (54th overall), recently has spoken about wanting to hit for more power.
When asked if that’s a result of feeling like he needs to expand his game or a result of something he felt the club’s offense needed from him, Winn split the difference.
“I think definitely a little bit of both,†Winn said. “I think I said I was swinging for the fences. Really, what I mean by that is just getting my A-swing off until two strikes. I think early in the year, I was maybe popping up a lot. I definitely love my singles, but I’m comfortable with two strikes. So I can take my hacks and take my chances up until two strikes.â€
It’s Winn’s job to put himself in position where his teammates can drive him home. By slugging a bit more, hitting home runs or even hitting doubles instead of singles, he feels that’s more beneficial to the entire offense.
Winn said the pressure of that role doesn’t become too much because of the confidence he has that others in the lineup can pick him up when he has an off day at the plate. He also takes solace in the fact that he can affect games defensively.
Winn echoed Burleson’s statements on having been a player counted on to produce throughout his baseball career. He also said the experience of being a top prospect coming up through the minors meant players like him and Jordan Walker were expected to do something impactful every night.
“Like (Burleson) said, it’s really just a new level, same pressure,†Winn said.