St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn to have offseason knee surgery

According to reports, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn will undergo offseason surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his knee. Winn, 23, was a late scratch to last night's game against the Seattle Mariners. He has been day to day for a few weeks now due to knee pain. It was reported after the game that Winn would require surgery on his injured knee this winter.

Masyn Winn takes pride in his desire to play one of the game's most demanding defensive positions on a daily basis. His defense has been exceptional all year despite nagging knee pain, and his offense started out strong. However, the wear and tear that occurs to every player in baseball has caught up with Winn in the second half, and he's now feeling the pain of it.

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn will undergo offseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

Winn has been outspoken all year about a desire to play every day. Around the All-Star break, the 23-year-old shortstop told reporters that his knee was "jacked up." but he had no interest in going on the Injured List. With players like Jordan Walker, Ivan Herrera, and Lars Nootbaar already on and off the IL at the time, hearing Winn wanting to play through the pain was admirable.

His pain eventually caught up with him, and he began taking more days off in the second half of the season. His numbers also took a hit post All-Star break, likely due to his hurt knee hampering him offensively.

Winn put up a respectable slash line of .255/.317/.378 with seven home runs and five stolen bases before the All-Star Game. He walked 27 times and struck out 64 times in 85 games. In the second half of the year, Winn's numbers have taken a sizable hit. He is slashing .247/.298/.331 with only two home runs, four stolen bases, seven walks, and 38 strikeouts. He's seen a decrease in his numbers across the board, and he's gone from a slightly above league average hitter to one who is hitting 8% below league average on the year now.

While Winn's offense has taken a hit, his defense hasn't slowed down one bit. He's still making excellent plays at short and building his case to win the Platinum Glove in the National League this year. He's a shoo-in for the Gold Glove at shortstop.

When speaking to reporters after the game last night, Winn said that "some stuff is going to have to be done this offseason to help me out. I want to finish the year as strong as possible. I was told I probably can't do too much worse to it. If I can't hurt myself any further because of this, then I want to be out there."

Winn's desire to still play despite nagging pain and a need for surgery is admirable, and it proves his value to this Cardinals team both now and in the future.

Despite surgery, Winn is still expected to have a normal offseason. He will play on and off over the team's final 16 games this year. He will rest if he's feeling particularly hurt one day and play the rest of the days down the stretch.