Cardinals Injury Update: Masyn Winn, Sonny Gray, Zack Thompson

Looking to avoid another injury disaster like the St. Louis Cardinals faced with Dylan Carlson at the end of last year's spring training, fans collectively held their breath when they saw that shortstop Masyn Winn was hobbling in the team's last game before the regular season started. Along with Winn, Sonny Gray's horrid spring performance could be explained with a recent illness.

Masyn Winn is expected to be perfectly fine after a brief scare.

Masyn Winn's health will be extremely important for the Cardinals this year as the team opted to forgo an actual backup shortstop for the big league roster, even after telling Jose Fermin his spot on the roster was safe. Health has not been an issue for Winn in his short career, as he played in 150 games last year while working through some back problems during his first full season in the bigs. There was a brief moment of collective concern during the last exhibition game of the year when the Cardinals made a pitstop in Memphis to take on their Triple-A affiliate before opening the season against the Twins on Thursday.

While fans were once again unable to watch the teams play on television, Derrick Goold and others noted that Winn appeared hobbled after rolling his ankle during the game. It was noticeable enough that manager Oli Marmol and the training staff had to stop the game to put the shortstop through some further tests. Winn passed those exams with flying colors and remained in the game for his next at-bats.

The Cardinals expect a lot from their franchise cornerstone this season, who is now expected to hit primarily at the bottom of the order after spending the majority of last year and spring training hitting out of the leadoff spot.

Sonny Gray has been battling an illness along with his velocity concerns.

Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported over the weekend that Sonny Gray has been under the weather recently, which could at least partially explain the veteran's decrease in his fastball velocity. Along with a previously unannounced pain-killing injection in his throwing arm, Gray was battling flu-like symptoms that left him lacking the strength and stamina he needs to be successful.

Gray, though, waved off those concerns and is excited to get out of Jupiter and pitch in games that count. Not shying away from his noted velocity decrease, the Opening Day starter knows he must work through these issues if he wants to get back to his dominant self.

"Obviously, the ball is not exploding out of my hand. I would say that was the biggest difference after the second, maybe stop trying to beat people with a fastball when maybe the fastball is not there. I started just trying to pitch a little bit."

Sonny Gray

Zack Thompson's placement on the 15-day IL could be a positive outcome

Lefty Zack Thompson, who cracked the Opening Day roster last year thanks to some late camp injuries, had his own Spring Training end early this year after suffering a lat strain at the beginning of March. At the time of his injury, it was announced that Thompson would be shut down from pitching for at least three weeks, which is where the current timeline sits. With the shutdown in his throwing progression, Thompson is going to need plenty of time to work his shoulder back to full strength and then build back up to a regular season workload.

Despite Thompson being placed on the injured list to begin the year, the fact that he was only placed on the 15-day IL rather than the 60-day could be a positive sign. With him only suffering a Grade 1 strain, it is possible the shutdown was more about playing it safe. However, the team did not really have a 40-man roster decision looming as Spring Training came to a close, so it is still possible that Thompson is moved to the long-term injured list if he does not respond well to his rest and rehabilitation plan.