51黑料

Rather than narrow his focus to find his footing in the majors after committing 18 errors at shortstop as a rookie, Masyn Winn looked to expand his range.

That鈥檚 why he has history within his grasp.

鈥淗e is out there to show that he can make plays that others cannot,鈥� manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 not going to play it safe, ever. 鈥� He doesn鈥檛 give a damn. He has zero fear.鈥�

With 40 games remaining in the regular season, Winn leads the majors in Outs Above Average, a statistics measured by Statcast for plays made beyond the average fielder. His 22 Outs Above Average would be the highest by a Cardinal since 2016, the first year of the statistic. Tommy Edman set the team-high with 19 in 2022. Winn surpassing 20 OOA for the season would be a first by a Cardinal, and his would be the 22nd season by any infielder since 2016. Winn has only two errors total.

Including a groundout in Wednesday鈥檚 6-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies, Winn has made 123 assists in the past 46 games since his most recent error.

Yet, he鈥檚 not limited his aggressive style to reduce the errors.

鈥淯sually, when you have the range and the arm and you get to what he gets to it comes with a lot of errors,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淎nd not because you鈥檙e not a good defender, but because you do things that others can鈥檛, and sometimes it leads to throws getting away from the first baseman. You have more opportunity for errors. The fact that he gets to more than anybody and still is doing what he鈥檚 doing from securing the baseball is highly, highly impressive.鈥�

Winn鈥檚 latest error-free series came opposite Colorado shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, the reigning Gold Glove Award-winner in the National League who edged Winn in last year鈥檚 voting. Winn had strong defensive metrics, but a drawback on his bid for his first Gold Glove Award was the number of errors.

The Cardinals have not had a Gold Glove Award at shortstop since Edgar Renteria won his second consecutive there in 2003. Renteria is the only Cardinal shortstop to win the defensive honor from 51黑料-based Rawlings since Ozzie Smith鈥檚 Hall of Fame run of 13 total in his career.

For Winn, the route to improve his defense was through his focus.

And that he sharpens before a ball is ever put in play.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really just my attention to detail,鈥� Winn said. 鈥淚 think this year has been a lot better. It鈥檚 my pregame work. I try to get out there every day to take groundballs. Maybe it鈥檚 superstition at this point. But to get ready for the game, I鈥檓 just trying to slow the game down. I feel like last year there were a lot of mental errors. That鈥檚 stuff I can control.鈥�

Marmol and the Cardinals鈥� coaches have mentioned since spring how Winn has improved his pre-pitch setup and the precision he鈥檚 emphasized in being ready for any play on any pitch.

That, Winn explained, has made 鈥渕y first step better, so my range is.鈥�

Winn entered Wednesday鈥檚 game fifth in the majors with 282 assists. He is the only shortstop with more than 80 assists this season and fewer than three errors. No other shortstop with at least 200 assists has fewer than four errors.

Errors can be fickle, but advanced metrics laud Winn’s play at shortstop as well. He has plus-6 Defensive Runs Saved, which puts him just outside of the leaders. His 19.5 defensive Runs Above Average lead the majors for any position that’s not catcher, according to ’s calculations. He’s ahead of Kansas City Royals’ shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who has a 17.6 DEF rating, per FanGraphs.

Like the Outs Above Average, that would be a historic metric for the Cardinals.

Since 2000, the only Cardinals infielder with a DEF higher than Winn鈥檚 current 19.5 for a season was Scott Rolen in 2004 with a 23.4 DEF at third base. That gives a sense of the range Winn has covered for superb plays made because he didn鈥檛 side with limiting the number of plays attempted to reduce the errors.

鈥淵ou (could) go, 鈥楢lright I鈥檓 going to play it safe so I don鈥檛 make those errors,鈥欌�� Marmol said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 doubled-down on, 鈥楴o, I鈥檓 just going to be really damn good at all of it.鈥� And he鈥檚 done it.鈥�

Contreras gets break for bruise

First baseman Willson Contreras remained limited by a deeply bruised right foot Wednesday morning after being hit by a pitch in the previous night鈥檚 game. Contreras had X-rays taken at the ballpark Tuesday, and night they did not show any fractures or structural damage. The foot remained sore when he applied pressure and Contreras walked with a limp as he went for treatment Wednesday.

The Cardinals said their first baseman was unavailable for Wednesday鈥檚 game, but the plan is for him to return to the lineup after Thursday鈥檚 off day and in time for the weekend series against the Yankees.

Attendance slides to 19th

The Cardinals sold fewer than 21,000 tickets for all three of the weekday game against the Colorado Rockies, finishing with a paid-ticket crowd of 20,513 on Wednesday. Fewer than that actually attended the game with some of the sparsest crowds of the season. After annually finishing in the top-four for ticket sales, the Cardinals have drifted this season down to the lower half in the majors.

Entering Sunday, their average of 28,902 tickets per game ranked 19th.

The Cardinals had a total of 62,156 tickets sold for the three-game visit from Colorado, and that fell below the 85,555 tickets the Rockies sold for the Cardinals鈥� three-game, weekday visit in July to Coors Field.

Arenado, etc.

Third baseman Nolan Arenado on his social media account shared video of him taking groundballs down in Jupiter, Florida, on the practice field the Cardinals have named for Hall of Famer Smith. 鈥� John King (oblique) is set to start his rehab assignment with a minor-league affiliate as soon as Friday. The Cardinals hope he appears in at least one game over the weekend and that he could rejoin them on the upcoming road trip through Florida. 鈥� The Yankees鈥� announced their starters for the three-day visit to Busch Stadium: RHP Luis Gil (0-1, 7.27 ERA), LHP Max Fried (12-5, 2.94 ERA), and RHP Will Warren (7-5, 4.34 ERA).