Masyn Winn has rejuvenated his offense following a rain delay reset

Mixed in the mire of the worst pitching staff in baseball and a 4-6 record for the St. Louis Cardinals has been a top-tier offense in baseball through the team's first 10 games. Thanks to contributions from players like Ivan Herrera, Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Arenado, and Brendan Donovan, the offense has been firing on all cylinders.

Shortstop Masyn Winn, however, was late to the party.

Winn failed to tally a hit in his first five games to start the season, and his .000/.143/.000 slash line was a glaring hole in the lineup. However, during a rain delay on April 1st against the Los Angeles Angels, Winn hit the cages with hitting coach Brant Brown and assistant hitting coach Brandon Allen to fix what was wrong with his swing.

Up to that point in the season, Winn had a 38.1% K rate, a line drive rate of just 11.1%, an ISO of .000, and a wRC+ of -41. For reference, league average wRC+ is 100. Anything lower than that is considered a below-average hitter.

While viewing film with Brant Brown and Brandon Allen, Winn found where the difference in his swing was from 2024. "It’s getting close,” he said. “It’s getting close to being something scary.”

Winn's underperformance out of the gate was concerning on the heels of a spring that featured him striking out twice as many times as he reached base with a batting average of .080.

The difference in Winn's swing between 2024 and 2025? Well, as Shakira once said, "Hips don't lie." Winn's pelvis tilted up more in spring and in the early days of the 2025 season, thus causing his swing to have a more upward path than what he used to have. This resulted in more fly balls for Winn, something that also limits exit velocity.

Since making adjustments to his swing, Winn has hit five balls greater than 100 miles per hour. Prior to that game, he'd hit only two balls harder than 100 miles per hour.

The positive metrics have also improved Winn's numbers across the board.

In the five games prior to April 1st, Winn is slashing .474/.524/.632 with a 23.8% K rate, a .158 ISO, and a 231 wRC+. He's brought his season slash line up to .243/.333/.324 and his season wRC+ up to 95. Winn has gone from being one of the worst hitters in the league to being a league-average bat at a premium position in less than a week.

Winn is historically a player who gets off to a slow start. Every promotion he made in the minors featured him struggling through the first two weeks offensively before turning it on. As a major leaguer, Winn has historically had his best month in May. He has a career .799 OPS in May, a full .054 points higher than his April/March OPS.

While Masyn Winn's offense was slow to start, his defense has been on point all year. In the series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Winn made a diving stop to his right along with a bullet throw to first base. The ball came off Tommy Pham's bat at 109.9 MPH.

Winn has already accumulated three Outs Above Average, and he has a perfect fielding percentage to go along with 33 assists and 15 putouts.

Masyn Winn is looking to become the face of the franchise. His plus defense paired with a strong offensive profile should help him reach that level of stardom in St. Louis. The 23-year-old shortstop is looking to improve upon a rookie season that saw him be a finalist for the National League Gold Glove at short. His plus speed is also something he's looking to capitalize on this year.

Masyn Winn was ice-cold to start the season, but his last five games have been exceptional on the offensive end. Whatever he did during a rain delay on April 1st seemed to have worked for the Cardinals' young shortstop.