Winn Now?

 

The maddening thing about the Cardinals being a good team is that it's still not a certainty that they're good for the long haul. They may just be good right now. I'm not getting a ton of roster depth that would indicate a deep run, especially pitching-wise. And yet...they're 7 games over .500, have some of the biggest performers of the division, and aren't looking like they'll be selling. Like...they've been linked to Skubal. That's how all-in they are, as of right now. The stats can tell you otherwise, cause the Cardinals only have one guy going to Philly next week [though it arguably should be two], but here they still are as a major player in the NL. It's the kind of run that doesn't make sense, but is fueled by pure momentum and ability.

Getting Alec Burleson, Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, Ivan Herrera and Lars Nootbaar all on the same page, and healthy, the last few years has literally been like herding cats. 2024 was a terrific year for Winn, okay, so that's set, right? No, he struggles a bit in 2025. Jordan Walker has an amazing start to the season in 2024, he's ready, right? No, it takes him another two years to actually become a consistent power hitter in the majors. Ivan Herrera finally finds a niche as a DH, he's good, right? No, he immediately gets hurt. Nootbaar keeps conking out right when things get good as well, and while he's back now he's still trying to catch up. But as it stands, Winn, Walker, Herrera, Burleson and J.J. Wetherholt are all in really nice form. Winn has 37 RBIs so far, and is helping the team that way on account of some rising errors. Walker has 20 homers and leads the league in RBIs with 67. Burleson's got an .818 OPS with 14 homers and 63 RBIs, he's having his fullest season to date. Wetherholt's been so good that people think he should have made the all-star team, and I'm one of them.

What does worry me is that now you're seeing a shelf of non committing prospects beginning to form. Already Nolan Gorman and Victor Scott have been demoted back to Memphis. Blaze Jordan is up with the team, but he's a .246 hitter and not adding much, so Bryan Torres's taking most of the starts at third. Thomas Saggese is once again back in Memphis as well. They brought up Brycen Mautz a couple months ago, longtime pitching prospect, that didn't work either. These guys are beginning to pile up. Tink Hence, Cooper Hjerpe, Tekoah Roby, Hunter Dobbins, all prized organizational pieces just not progressing as planned. The only promotion so far that HAS worked out, aside from Wetherholt, has been the return of Ryan Fernandez, who's over his 2025 struggles and has been lights-out in relief. But we're gonna need a lot more than that if this team is supposed to be something.

This team just won games against the Cubs, but they've got a LOT of Brewers matches up next, followed by a Braves series. If they want it, they've gotta break even on this series, or else they'll be headed back towards .500 and could be in danger of falling out of the race. This week could decide the direction of the season for the Cardinals, and they need it to turn out positively. 

Coming Tomorrow- For years he struggled to find a place on this team as his colleagues outran him for starting spots. Now, suddenly, he's a power player at last.

Winn or Lose

 

It is exceedingly difficult to write about the Cardinals. One week they'll be looking like a genuinely great baseball team, the next week they'll be completely ineffective in all facets of the game. 'Noncommittal' is the perfect way to describe these Cardinals, because we're like 3 weeks from the deadline and I have literally no idea what they're trying to do.

I think what keeps confusing me is that their starting nine is actually a pretty decent collection of people doing basically what's expected of them. Brendan Donovan, Masyn Wynn, Victor Scott and Alec Burleson are all having pivotal, strong peak seasons. Winn, for the second year in a row, has been an undeniable standout in multiple categories, being handy as a contact bat, a baserunner and a defensive shortstop. Winn and Donovan together in that infield is a trusted, proven combo that could lead this team for a while. Donovan's flirting with .300, leads the team in hits and got a well-deserved ASG nod. Heck, Lars Nootbaar leads the team in homers, and regardless of the fact that his lead is with 12 rather than, like, 33, it's still a very good thing.

The other thing about this team is that as much as it feels easy to dunk on the contracted players like Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras, they're both actually doing pretty damn well. Arenado has 10 homers and 41 RBIs, and even if it's not peak Arenado, it's still pretty helpful. You're still hearing that the Cardinals might, or might not, trade Arenado, which we've been hearing for a year, or honestly since he was still with the Rockies. Contreras has 11 homers and 51 RBIs, and actually isn't too bad at 1st. Not Harper good or anything, but he's been helpful there since Goldschmidt's departure. 

And yet even with all that's working for this Cardinals team, there's still a lot of mediocrity around as well. There's no surefire ace in this pitching staff right now. Sonny Gray has 113 Ks, but a 4.50 ERA. You'd think Liberatore would be the young guy to rally around, but his ERA is 3.70, which is good but not terrific. Ryan Helsley, still on a lot of people's trade radars, has a 3.19 ERA, despite his 18 saves. People have figured out how to hit this team. Either that or they're really not capable of surprising people anymore, at least as far as the pitching is concerned.

I dunno, the Cards have been 2-5 since July started but they have this habit of springing back up the second you count them out. So I'm not gonna make any assumptions of their next move. I'm just gonna let them make the decisions themselves and we'll see how well it goes for them.

Coming Tomorrow- In a season where the rest of his lineup has sprung to life, he figured he'd get in on the fun as well. 

I Used to be DeJong

 
Right now there's a Cardinals shortstop with an impressive-at-hell hitting streak to start his career, and somewhere in Chicago there's a guy going 'that used to be me'.

Last year, round this time, Paul deJong was still being trusted as the starting shortstop in St. Louis. After an extremely good 2019, deJong was kept on as primary SS due mostly to his excellent defensive abilities. But even as recently as 2022, those defensive perks were wearing off. Eventually he stopped hitting for average, and struggled to get much done at all anywhere they put up. The reason deJong was cut last year was mainly to make way for younger, more reliable infield options, like Brendan Donovan and the soon-to-be-called-up Masyn Winn. It just seemed like nothing was clicking with deJong anymore, and the Blue Jays and Giants corroborated this after stints with them.

But now, due to the frantically bare White Sox needing veteran options to, at the very least, keep the lights on, deJong gets to be the starting shortstop again. So far this is looking like his best season in a couple years, solely due to the fact that he's not hitting under .200 and isn't a liability at short. He's perfectly okay in both departments, has some base running perks, and has 7 homers and 17 RBIs. So it's not bad, especially considering the quality of the rest of the team. But like...considering the drop-off, it's not ideal.

Then you think about the Cardinals' current shortstop, Masyn Winn. Winn's 22 years old, he's playing in his first full season in the bigs, and has hit safely in 18 straight games. Considering his debut last year, where he struggled both offensively and defensively, it's been relieving to see Winn hitting .297, stealing 7 bases and providing excellent defensive play. Winn is young, talented, versatile, in his prime, and is a much better double play partner to Nolan Gorman than deJong was. And with this piece intact, the Cardinals have had a slight upward trajectory over the past few weeks, as they're now in third and heading for the Cubs.

It's gotta be a big ego hit to someone like Paul deJong when someone's doing your old job better than you could, and is succeeding there. Cause he's still stuck with this White Sox team, winning only occasionally and getting next to nothing done. He's there because it's a place to play everyday, which isn't exactly guaranteed on most other rosters. And he's gotta be thankful he has that. But man, he's gotta wish the luck shone on him more, especially recently. Cause he's been where Winn is, and he wishes he was still there.

Coming Tomorrow- Typically this infielder is the August-era 'break in case of embarrassment' guy, but he's actually been a big help for most of the season. 

Uncustomed Heroes of 2023: Cardinals

 

My dad said something to me towards the end of the regular season, that 'baseball is just better when the Cardinals and Yankees are competitive'. And while I get what he's trying to say, that baseball is more exciting when two of its winningest clubs are able to compete into October and extend their own legacies, I was not missing the Cardinals at all this October. It's been YEARS since I hadn't had to worry about the Cardinals at all, and with a good decade or so of them annoying me and constantly deciding around July that this is the year and not letting up til mid-October [which, to be fair, the Phillies have been doing recently], having the Cardinals completely collapse this year was a nice change of pace.

Like the other traditionally-great team that missed the playoffs this year, the Cardinals were struck down by injuries, bloated contracts, rookies that weren't all the way ready yet, and great seasons that were better off happening in other cities. Though you can never truly count this team out, and with the Cards restocking their rotation with guys like Kyle Gibson, Sonny Gray and Lance Lynn, it's unlikely that the team will finish 20 games below .500 again in 2024. Not impossible, but unlikely.

One of the team's biggest disappointments might have been losing Brendan Donovan, who was having another excellent season, to an injury midyear. Through 95 games, the versatile Donovan was hitting .284 with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs, in addition to some decent defensive play. The injury robbed the Cardinals of one of its safest lineup bets, and while he should be ready by Spring Training, it's not sure whether or not he'll completely hit the ground running in 2024.

2024 Prediction: I'm guessing a lot of the 'youth movement' Cards from the past 5 years might be phased out, and by that point Donovan will have full control of second and be a big piece of this Cardinals team. He might chase .300 again.

In his second year in St. Louis, Steven Matz continued to deliver solid mid-rotation material, with a 3.86 ERA and 98 Ks in 105 innings. Like Donovan, he missed some time due to injuries, which dulled his full-season impact, but the team is relying on him for 2024.

2024 Prediction: His fullest season in years, a Sonny Gray-style [heh] low-ERA triumph that gets people back on his side.

As the many rookies and second-year guys begin to dominate the Cardinals' lineup, many of them, including Alex Burleson, are showing signs of staying power. Burleson was the team's primary DH this year, and hit .244 with 8 home runs and 36 RBIs. Decent power numbers, and at 24 they can definitely be built on.

2024 Prediction: I don't think he's gonna stay solely at DH. I think they're either gonna give him a full OF/corner position or just make him a bench guy. Something tells me they'll need DH a bit more open with Goldy turning 36. He'll still play next year, though maybe not as much of a starter.

And while Jordan Walker was the biggest rookie prospect to make the team this year, Masyn Winn showed up near the end and provided some solid defensive shortstop material to make up for Paul DeJong's departure. Winn's batting numbers have yet to arrive, as he only hit .172 with 21 hits in 37 games, but as Winn is only 21, it's the kind of thing he can come into over time.

2024 Prediction: I honestly think the Cardinals are gonna make a small free agent signing to fill shortstop until they trust Winn with the position. Then they'll call him up around August and he'll be 100% ready, and the other guy won't be needed.

Coming Tomorrow- Quite a few people who made the Cubs a worthwhile team this year.