The St. Louis Cardinals are four games back from the National League’s third wild-card playoff spot with three teams ahead of them in the standings. And only 14 games remain on their regular-season schedule.
Under those circumstances, the Cardinals (72-76) decided to shut shortstop Masyn Winn down for the rest of the season on Friday. Winn, 23, has been struggling with a torn meniscus in his right knee and will undergo arthrosopic surgery to repair the injury.
“It was somewhat emotional because he wanted to get back [to St. Louis] and play there, but at this point we’re going to make the call to call it a year,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said after Friday’s 8-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
“He’s always going to want to go,” Marmol added. “That’s just the way he’s wired and why I love him. But it makes the most sense to go ahead and shut him down.”
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The Cardinals are set to return home on Monday to begin a six-game homestand, following a six-game road trip that ends Sunday in Milwaukee.
Wynn was originally in Friday’s starting lineup at shortstop and batting sixth after having a day off on Thursday. He took ground balls before the game, but was scratched from the lineup because of lingering pain.
The third-year major leaguer had been playing with the torn meniscus for weeks, and took a pain-killing injection during the MLB All-Star break. The Cardinals allowed Wynn to continue playing because the risk of making the injury worse was low and surgery would not affect his availability for next season. But swelling had increased recently. The team has not yet decided when Wynn will undergo a procedure.
“Technically, we still have a shot [for a playoff bid], so I want to go out there and compete for that,” Winn told reporters on Tuesday, via The Athletic. “I’m going to have time in the offseason to recover, so I can feel like I can play this one out.”
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Wynn ends his second full MLB season with a .253/.310/.363 slash average, 27 doubles, 9 home runs and 51 RBI.
However, he’s one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball. His 22 Outs Above Average are tied for the highest total in MLB with the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. He’s also credited with three Defensive Runs Saved and a .994 fielding percentage that will be the best by a shortstop in Cardinals team history. He’s committed three errors in 1,107 2/3 innings at the position this season.
Thomas Saggese is expected to take over at shortstop for the rest of the Cardinals’ season. He’s batting .251/.294/.324, while advanced metrics credit him with 1 DRS and 1 OAA.
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