Of all the odd decisions the St. Louis Cardinals front office and manager Oli Marmol made during the 2025 season, allowing shortstop Maysn Winn to play with an injured meniscus in his knee during September could be the worst.
Wynn, who will likely win his first Rawlings Gold Glove award for defensive excellence, was finally placed on the injured list on Sept. 12. He admitted that his knee had been barking for several weeks before he was finally shut down.
While I admire his determination, the decision to end an impressive 2025 should not have been his. When the team fell six games out of the National League wild-card race on Sept. 2, management should have stepped in.
St. Louis was not mathematically eliminated at that juncture, but Wynn was risking further injury by slogging on in pain.
I’m certainly not a doctor/surgeon but allow me to “dad brag” and share a Reid family experience. My daughter Blaine injured her knee during her college career at Missouri.
As she studied toward her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, she wanted to delay surgery until after her May 2023 graduation. We learned from her surgeon that he really would not know the severity of her meniscus tear until the surgery.
It turns out hers was almost gone. She had surgery, she’s fine and will graduate with her master’s degree, also in electrical engineering, in December.
While there is conjecture that Wynn will have the surgery soon and be ready for action by spring training in February, I don’t think he or the Cardinals will know for sure until after the procedure.
Winn did not play two games during the three-game series at Seattle Sept. 7-9. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I was hoping after three days off that it would feel a lot better and when I showed up (Sept 11), it was really tough to swing, and really tough to take groundballs.”
“The training staff kind of noticed I was trying to hide it a little bit but, I went in there, got some work done and was just … in a lot of pain and then just kind of made the executive decision to just shut it down.”
While Wynn’s desire to play should be applauded, allowing him to press on was shortsighted if not reckless.
His defensive improvement since his 2024 rookie season has been astronomical.
After committing 18 errors last year, Wynn closes the 2025 season with just three in 501 chances. He and Kansas City Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were tied in the highest-outs-over-average statistic in Major League Baseball as the final two weeks of the season began.
Winn, who suffered at the plate because of his painful knee during the season’s second half, closed the year with a .253 batting average, nine home runs and 51 RBI.
At just 23, he is one of few encouraging stories during a dismal 2025 campaign and part of the Cardinals’ longtime future. Hopefully, Chaim Bloom, incoming president of baseball operations, will appreciate the gem he has at shortstop.
Winn should be polished and protected, not chipped — even if the team must make tough decisions in his best interest health wise.
The Reid Roundup
Don’t write the 0-2 Kansas City Chiefs off. Once quarterback Patrick Mahomes has his injured wide receiver, Xavier Worthy, and suspended WR, Rashee Rice, back in a month, the team will be among the AFC’s best…Chiefs All-Pro defensive lineman Chris Jones yelled to Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts that he didn’t have 100 yards passing (he actually had 101) in the closing seconds of Philly’s 20-17 win last Sunday. “We won the bleeping game,” Hurts shouted as a retort…Colorado coach Deion Sanders said during a halftime interview his defense was playing like “hot garbage” in what would be a 36-20 loss at Houston. Is he auditioning for a future TV gig?…There are few Black head coaches in college football. I cringe when one is fired. However, UCLA’s dismissal of second-year coach DeShaun Foster after Saturday’s humiliating 35-10 loss to New Mexico in the Rose Bowl last Saturday was warranted. The Bruins are 0-3 this year and went 5-10 under Foster’s guidance.