Cardinals' rookie gets snubbed in latest MLB poll
A panel of MLB.com voters was asked to rank their top-5 Rookie of the Year candidates after two weeks of the regular season.
MLB.com published a piece earlier this week getting a feel for who could be the Rookie of the Year in both the National and American League. The results were a bit surprising in the National League. These votes were cast based on what's happened so far and what the voters expect to happen over the course of the season.
Jackson Chourio of the Milwaukee Brewers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs, Jung Hoo Lee of the San Francisco Giants, and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization were the top 5 vote-getters among MLB.com contributors. There are some rookies who received votes including Jackson Merrill of the Padres, Michael Busch of the Cubs, and Blaze Alexander of the Diamondbacks.
While Victor Scott II did receive votes, there is one rookie on the St. Louis Cardinals who was absolutely snubbed from the list: Masyn Winn. Winn has an improved approach at the plate this season that has pushed his slash line to .333/.344/.400 for an OPS+ of 103. He has the second-most hits on the team in only 34 plate appearances, and his defense has been as stellar as advertised. Here's a collection of highlights he already has in only 10 games.
Players ahead of Masyn Winn don't measure up to what he's done so far. Paul Skenes, for as ridiculously talented as he is, hasn't thrown a single pitch in the majors. Jung Hoo Lee's offensive output pales in comparison to Winn's and Outs Above average is down on Lee's defense in center.
While Shota Imanaga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto have pitched well and Jackson Chourio seems to be doing it all on both ends, Winn has absolutely proven his value over Lee and Skenes. Masyn Winn was under the "also receiving votes" section of the article, but the lack of national attention on a talented player is disappointing for Cardinal fans.
This list includes voters' projections for the season, so perhaps they expect Skenes to come up soon and dominate and for Lee to adjust quickly to MLB pitching; however, Winn's exclusion from the list now is surprising given his strong start to the season. Masyn Winn has truly taken off in his second professional season.