ST. LOUIS — Masyn Winn turned a sharply hit grounder into a highlight play July 30, diving to his right and throwing to first base for the opening out of the seventh inning in a Cardinals-Cubs game at Busch Stadium.
The play came against a Cubs right-handed batter who hit a slider from Cardinals starter Andre Pallante. The pitch registered 87.4 mph with a spin rate of 2,404 rpm. The contact measured 98.8 mph exit velocity, a launch angle of negative-6 degrees and a hit distance of just 22 feet — a ball driven hard into the dirt, not a routine bounce.
With no runners on base and no outs recorded in the top of the seventh, Winn ranged to smother the ball, went to the ground to do it and still made a clean throw to retire the batter.
The degree of difficulty comes from the numbers: a ball hit at 98.8 mph that travels only 22 feet is buried into the infield almost immediately. A shortstop has almost no margin to read the hop, which is why Winn's decision to dive rather than stay back was itself a read — and it was right.
Winn, 24, is in his third season as the Cardinals' starting shortstop. He made his MLB debut in 2023 after working through the Cardinals' minor league system following his selection in the second round of the 2020 draft, when St. Louis signed him for a $2.1 million bonus as a two-way player out of Kingwood High School in Kingwood, Texas.
The Cardinals identified Winn's athleticism early. He was rated the best overall athlete in the Cardinals' minor league system entering the 2021 season. His path to the majors ran through Palm Beach in Low-A, Peoria in High-A, Springfield in Double-A and Memphis in Triple-A before the big-league call.
Winn won his first Gold Glove Award in 2025, the sport's top individual recognition for defensive excellence at a position. On March 31, 2026, he completed a 6-3 inning-ending double play with an 89.8 mph throw to first base, recording an exchange time of 0.7 seconds from catch to release. That throw came on a soft line drive he caught before firing across the diamond. The July 30 play adds a different dimension: the same arm after going to the ground on a high-velocity grounder.
Winn was born March 21, 2002, making him one of the younger starting shortstops in the National League. He committed to the University of Arkansas out of high school but signed professionally after the Cardinals took him in the second round. At Kingwood High School as a junior in 2019, he posted a 13-0 pitching record with a 0.67 ERA and 117 strikeouts over 76⅓ innings while hitting.417 with eight home runs and 46 RBIs.
The Cardinals drafted him as a two-way player, but the professional path narrowed to shortstop. He pitched just one inning across all of 2021. The bat and glove at short were clearly the priority, and the 2025 Gold Glove confirmed the organization made the right call.
For a Cardinals club built around pitching and defense, Winn's range at shortstop is a genuine asset. A play that retires a batter on a 98.8 mph ball hit 22 feet is not a routine stop dressed up as spectacular — the physics make it legitimately difficult, and Winn made it look clean.
