St. Louis Cardinals Masyn Winn provides optimistic update following knee surgery

During the All-Star Break, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn stunned fans by saying he's been fighting a knee injury that had been hampering him for several weeks. Winn said that his knee was "jacked up" and "not okay" in an interview with FanDuel Sports Midwest back in July.

As a result of Winn's knee problems, he opted to call his season quits with about a month to go. Winn underwent surgery on a torn meniscus on September 25th, and the surgery was a success and went as expected. Thus began Winn's long road to recovery, one that many fans thought would take until Opening Day for him to fully recover.

In an interview with Chris Rongey and Tom Ackerman on The Gashouse Gang, Winn gave fans an optimistic update on his recovery from his knee surgery.

St. Louis Cardinals Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn expects to have a normal offseason following knee surgery.

While speaking with Ackerman and Rongey, Masyn Winn gave a promising update on his recovery from meniscus surgery.

"Knee's feeling great. I had surgery and was doing (physical therapy) the next day," said Winn with a smile on his face. "I've been going hard on it, just trying to get back right. (I) jogged on it for the first time a couple of days ago. That was amazing."

"I can already tell it feels better than it did during the season, so I'm already super excited for next year."

Winn assured The Gashouse Gang's hosts that he would be good to go for spring training, saying, "I should be fully good to go in the next month here." Winn and the training staff are trying to expedite his recovery process so that he can have a normal offseason while still making sure that he recovers normally. The last thing that both Masyn Winn and the Cardinals want is for their cornerstone shortstop to make his injury worse or mess up the surgery.

Masyn Winn is coming off a solid sophomore season in which he posted a .253/.310/.363 slash line with nine home runs and nine stolen bases. It's clear that his knee injury limited his offensive and baserunning abilities, as he posted a .629 OPS in the second half of the season with a .247 batting average. He took a step back after his injury got the best of him, and the numbers back that up.

Despite his subpar offensive output, Winn was still able to be one of the best defenders in baseball this year. He led all National League shortstops in Outs Above Average, and his .994 fielding percentage was the best among all shortstops in baseball last year. Winn committed only three errors all year.

The Cardinals and Chaim Bloom have not spoken about extensions for players as of yet, but Masyn Winn should certainly be approached with a multi-year extension. In the same interview with Tom Ackerman and Chris Rongey, Winn discussed playing with the Cardinals beyond his six years of team control.

"I know the media would love to have me around, and I would love to be around this organization for a while."

Masyn Winn's Gold Glove, paired with his drive and desire to grow as a player, makes him a key player on the team. His positive update on his knee surgery and recovery is promising for the young shortstop's return to the field next year.