4 frustrating decisions the Cardinals made with their Opening Day roster, 3 fans like

Liked: Moving Masyn Winn out of the leadoff spot

I'm not sure many people realize that Masyn Winn actually wasn't a good leadoff hitter last year. Maybe it is because the Cardinals offense was so bad last year that the excitement he provided is all we remember, or it's the fact that he was so good at the bottom of the order that we somehow forget he wasn't leading off in those games.

I do think how a player performs in certain spots of a lineup can get overblown. Sometimes people take that as gospel and believe that wherever their best numbers are in the order is where they must hit. Sometimes a player's approach or comfort level hitting in a spot does matter a lot, but I don't believe that to be the case every time.

Winn has played in 187 big league games so far in his career and is just 23 years old. There is no need to rush him into more responsibility if he's not fully earned it. The Cardinals have two highly capable leadoff hitters on the roster already in Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan, so Winn does not need to be forced into that spot.

In 2024, Winn started 102 games at the top of the Cardinals' order. When leading off, Winn hit .248/.290/.402 with a 93 wRC+. He was a below-league-average hitter, which just is not good enough for your leadoff man. When batting sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth in the order, though, Winn slashed .327/.382/.456, good for an eye-popping 134 wRC+. Now, that sample size is just 43 games, so I'm not trying to act like he will be elite at the bottom of the order, but we do know he was not good enough at the top.

The Cardinals are set to have Lars Nootbaar lead off to start the year, with Winn batting in the ninth spot behind Victor Scott II. I could see having Winn above Scott, but honestly, I love this. Winn will follow Walker and Scott and have the opportunity to drive them in. Winn's bat-to-ball skills could make for some really fun hit-and-run opportunites with Scott. And if Winn does get on base, he has Nootbaar, Contreras, and Donovan following him to drive him in.

If Winn excels at the bottom of the order and there is a need to move him up, they could try that again at some point. But after floundering in camp and slowing down during the middle and end of the 2024 season, I think it's wise to remove some of those expectations from Winn and let him play loose and try to do damage from the nine hole.