51黑料

Winn wanted to wring a few more games out of this season so that he could play at least one more time at Busch Stadium before yielding to the tear in his meniscus he鈥檚 spent months managing.

鈥淚 was hoping after having three days off it would feel a lot better,鈥� he said Saturday evening. 鈥淚 showed up (Friday), and it was really tough to swing, really tough to take ground balls. The training staff noticed it. I was trying to hide it a little bit. But (I) went in there, got some work done. Kind of in a lot of pain. Made the executive decision to just shut it down.

鈥淭hey could have shut me down three and a half, four months ago, but they let me go out there and play,鈥� the shortstop continued. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 all I asked for. I want to thank them, for sure.鈥�

The decision to end his season Friday night became an official transaction Saturday as the Cardinals placed their second-year shortstop on the 10-day injured list.

Winn said he鈥檒l likely travel in the coming week to seek a second opinion on treatment for the damaged meniscus in his right knee. He expects to have arthroscopic surgery within the next two weeks. It will be the second time he鈥檚 had surgery on the right knee to address damage to his meniscus. He had a similar procedure during high school and was back on the field within three months, he said.

He and the Cardinals medical officials do not expect the surgery to limit or delay his offseason preparation for 2026.

鈥淭hat is also why I kept playing this year,鈥� Winn said. 鈥淲hy miss four months of the season when I could miss four months of the offseason? I had the surgery back in high school, came back in two and a half, three months, so I鈥檒l take more time this year to really make sure. I鈥檒l take my time to make sure everything is great. I would assume by New Year鈥檚, I鈥檒l be ready to go.鈥�

Winn, 23, finished the season with a .253 average, a .310 on-base percentage and a .363 slugging percentage for a .673 OPS. His offensive production was down across the back of his baseball card as he also played in 21 fewer games.

He insisted Saturday he did not want to use the injury as 鈥渆xcuse.鈥�

It limited him on the bases and in the batter鈥檚 box, and that prompted a blunt answer from Winn when asked what he needed to accomplish getting ready for spring training.

鈥淚鈥檝e got to hit. That鈥檚 that simple,鈥� he said. 鈥淩eally, the offensive side. Hoping that fully healthy, I鈥檒l be able to take some more bags next year.鈥�

Winn hit .292 in July, most of which he played after receiving an anti-inflammatory shot in the right knee. Through August, he hit .200, and his average dipped further to .190 in the limited appearances this month. In his final 121 at-bats, Winn had more strikeouts (34) than hits (24) and produced only six extra-base hits.

What the Cardinals saw from him during that stretch was the beginnings of adjustments he鈥檚 making to a shift in how opponents pitched to him. Manager Oli Marmol described in August how Winn has the swing to be a high-average hitter as he unlocks his use of the whole field.

Marmol elaborated in his office Saturday.

鈥淚 think we started to see a little bit of it ... in just taking the single the other way,鈥� the manager said. 鈥淚 think the league will start to pitch away from your slug when they know you want to slug. So you鈥檒l see a lot less pitches on the inner half. And you have to prove you can beat them differently. And he started to show that. There are games when the results aren鈥檛 there, but you can see the intent was. And that鈥檚 growth. That鈥檚 what you want to see.鈥�

鈥淚t gives me a ton of hope as to what to expect next year because of, one, he鈥檒l be fully healthy,鈥� Marmol continued. 鈥淏ut, two, he started to understand the approach of when to take his shots and when to take what the game is giving him. That is a big step at his age.鈥�

Defensively, Winn took all the steps in the right direction.

A favorite to win the National League鈥檚 Gold Glove Award at shortstop, Winn鈥檚 season ends with him leading the majors in outs above average, per Statcast. Winn finished as a finalist for the award last year because the advanced defensive metrics adored his play. But he committed 18 errors, and that reduced his support in voting for the highest defensive honor. This season, he trimmed his error total to three.

He is the first full-time shortstop to finish a season with three or fewer errors since Omar Vizquel in 2000. The only other shortstop with three or fewer errors in a season in the past 40 years was Cal Ripken Jr., with three in 1990.

鈥淚鈥檓 assuming those guys played a couple more games than I did,鈥� Winn said.

Deep into his ironman streak of consecutive games, Ripken logged 1,406 1/3 innings at shortstop in 1990 and had 680 total chances. Vizquel played 1,328 2/3 innings at shortstop in 2000 and had 648 total chances. This season, Winn played 1,107 1/3 innings at shortstop, and with the Cardinals鈥� contact-oriented staff, he had 501 total chances.

Winn qualifies for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award this season, and if he wins, he won鈥檛 even be the Cardinals shortstop with the fewest innings in a Gold Glove year.

Ozzie Smith played 1,065 1/3 at shortstop in 1984.

Winn first felt the pain in his knee in late May or early June. After a few weeks of playing through it, he had a scan taken of the knee to determine the root cause. That scan revealed the tear and prompted conversation on whether he could do further damage to his knee or injury himself in another way by trying to play. Assured that he could not, Winn pressed on to keep playing.

A goal he mentioned as far back as spring training was being an 鈥渆veryday鈥� shortstop for the Cardinals and playing as many games as possible. He explained that he had those innings and those chances in mind and was set out to show that he could play exceptional defense 鈥� daily.

He was willing to push through the pain to do so as long as it let him.

He hoped it would me one more game at home.

鈥淚 wanted to play in front of those fans one more time,鈥� Winn said. 鈥淭o be able to go out there and be consistent 鈥� that is all I鈥檝e been asking of myself and what I wanted to show these guys around here.鈥�

Arenado set for return

Gold Glove winner veteran Nolan Arenado batted second and played third for Class AA Springfield (Missouri) on Saturday, and that appearance set him up for a return to the big league lineup Monday. Arenado did not play for the S-Cards on Sunday, choosing instead to go through some conditioning work and then travel back to 51黑料.

He will be active Monday as the Cardinals begin the final homestand of the regular season, the Cardinals said.

In Springfield鈥檚 7-4 victory Saturday night, Arenado went 0 for 3 with a run scored.

Arenado is in the minors and on a rehab assignment for the first time since 2014, when he was with the Colorado Rockies. He鈥檚 recovering from a shoulder injury that put him on the IL near the end of July.