Entering the Cardinals’ series opener against the Red Sox on Friday night at Busch Stadium, Masyn Winn went without a homer in his first 34 games at Busch Stadium. In 76 games after being called up to the majors last August, the rookie had two homers with the first coming on the road in Atlanta and the second in San Diego.
So, when the 22-year-old belted a two-run home run — his first of 2024 — in the sixth inning of ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ 10-5 win over Boston, the timing felt just right.
“My mom texted me about a week ago,†said Winn, who traded a game-used bat to get the home run ball from the fan who caught it. “(It’s) kind of a little convenient. She said when you get your first one, try to get it back because I kept my first home run ball last year. She didn’t get one. She got a single. I wanted to get that for her. It was great. It feels great.â€
It also provided a comeback after some gamesmanship from Red Sox starter Brayan Bello.
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After getting quick-pitched by Bello in the fourth inning, Winn let teammates including Lars Nootbaar and Pedro Pages know that he was going to try and swing for the fences in his next at-bat against Bello. The 22-year-old planned to “pimp it†if he knew he got all of it.
Although he didn’t face Bello when he stepped to the plate in the sixth, and although he didn’t feel it off the bat, Winn’s swing on a 1-2 sweeper thrown low from lefty Cam Booser sailed 402 feet and cleared the left-center field wall for his first Busch Stadium blast.
“I don’t want to say it’s bush league. It’s part of the game,†Winn said of Bello’s quick pitch. “But I’m so competitive that I take everything personally. He did that. I really wanted to face him again. I wanted to hit a home run off of him, but his teammate got caught in the crossfire.â€
The homer extended Winn’s hitting streak to seven consecutive games. He has at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games after a quiet set of games to begin May. Through 40 games in his first full season in the majors, the Cardinals’ opening day shortstop is batting .280 with a .343 on-base percentage. He entered Saturday tied for second in average among MLB rookies, first in on-base percentage, and tied for fourth in hits (35).
The 22-year-old’s success at the plate has come with adjustments as the opposition adjusts to him.
Since the start of May, Winn has gone 11-for-46 (.239) with a .271 on-base percentage. He’s walked twice in his last 13 games after walking 11 times in 24 games during April and seen more pitches on the inner half of the plate.
“When you look at what they’ve done, it’s no different than any young player,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “They stay away from you until you prove that you can use the whole field and once you prove that you can do that, they start pounding you in an up and you have to do a good job of hitting the ones you’re supposed to and laying off the ones they want you to swing at. If you do, then the next adjustment comes.â€
Winn’s approach at the plate this season has yielded a 36.3% rate of opposite field contact, per FanGraphs, and a line drive rate (32.7%) second only to Dodgers star Freddie Freeman (37%). As the opposition looks to challenge him with more inside pitches, his point of contact could make swings like Friday night more common for Winn, who belted 18 home runs in 105 games for Triple-A Memphis a year ago.
“If a team is going to start coming inside, I think that’s whenever I’ll probably start finding and running into some balls on accident,†Winn said. “Just not trying to do too much is the biggest thing. But... I think it’s when teams start coming inside, I think that’s where I’m going to start popping them.â€
It’s part of the “game within the game†and a step the rookie may need to take to continue adapting to the big leagues.
“If that’s the case, you’re going to have to show that you can get them out of there,†Marmol said. “And one way to do it is to do what you did the night before. Drive the ball that way. Not get sped up in there. The one thing they want to do is to speed you up to go back out there. He’ll be fine. He’s a good enough athlete.â€
Extra Bases
- Right-hander Keynan Middleton (forearm flexor strain) is slated for a rehab appearance on Sunday with Double-A Springfield, Marmol said. The outing will be Middleton’s third of his rehab assignment after going down with a forearm injury in early March. Following Sunday, Middleton is expected to throw back-to-back outings on Wednesday and Thursday. Marmol said on Friday that a decision on when Middleton is activated from the injured list may come after his back-to-back outings.
- Right-hander Giovanny Gallegos’ bullpen on Friday was his second since being placed on the IL with a right shoulder impingement, Marmol said. Gallegos’ next step in his recovery has not been determined yet.