St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn added another web gem to this collection on Tuesday, making a diving play deep in the hole and firing a strike to first base to get out Texas Rangers’ Jake Burger.
The head-turning play came in the eighth inning of a tied ball game. Although Winn’s ability to flash the leather with his back hand was impressive, his arm strength was the jaw-dropping part, throwing it from the edge of the outfield grass to first baseman Alec Burleson’s outstretched glove, just milliseconds before Burger’s right foot touched the bag.
The highlight reel-like play only cements Winn more into the conversation of being one of the league’s most young elite young defensive shortstops, if he wasn’t already. The 23-year-old won his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2025, the youngest player in franchise history to do so and fifth-youngest ever at the position.
Now trekking through his third full year at the MLB level, plays like his on Tuesday will only continue to builds his case for another Gold Glove andas one of the Cardinals’ building blocks for the future.
Masyn Winn, Marcus Semien, Ke’Bryan Hayes Win Rawlings Gold Gloves
Otherworldly with the leather
Winn was flawless onin the field during 2025, postinged an MLB-best .994 fielding percentage among shortstops and only committinged three errors in 501 total chances. He’s just the third shortstop in MLB history to play 125-plus games and commit three or fewerless errors, joining Cal Ripken Jr. (1990) and Omar Vizquel (2000).
His fielding percentage was the seventh-best by a shortstop in MLB single- season history.
And that’s not all. He led all of baseball in outs above average (OAA) for most of the 2025 campaign before missing the final few weeks of the regular season due to a meniscus tear in his right knee that required arthroscopic surgery. He tied for third by the season’s end.
Those numbers are nearly impossible for any player to replicate, considering the list of names it is thrusted into conversations with. Just one shortstop that has produced two top 10 ranked single-season fielding percentages of all time.
Winn currently sits at a .979 fielding percentage, the ninth-best amongst players at his position that have started over 50 games, but it doesn’t tell the full story.
Although his five errors this season are an outlier, he’s top five in putouts, top three in assists and double plays and holds the top spot in range factor.
Exhibit A? Tuesday.
St. Louis Cardinals Outfielder Victor Scott II On What Makes Teammate Masyn Winn Special
Winn was a Gold Glove finalist in 2024, but had 18 errors, which may have beenpotentially a reason he didn’t win it.
The Cardinals have played 59 games so far this season, a ways to go until the 1624-gamecontest threshold. This gives the Katy, TX native ample time to better his already strong percentage, and separate himself from the pack in other categories, ultimately enough to win him his second consecutive piece of hardware.
Contract extension coming soon?
St. Louis is quietly constructing its repertoire of young stars. 2024 first- round pick and infielder JJ Wetherholt, a 23-year-old, reached the big leagues this season and 2020 first- rounder and right fielder Jordan Walker, 24, has come into his own in 2026.
Winn falls into this category as well, giving the Cardinals one of the best young middle infields in the MLB with Wetherholt. He’s under contract until 2029.
Masyn Winn Is Batting .385 Over His Last 26 At-Bats
And recently, many MLB teams have trended toward extending theirits budding stars early, before contract negotiations jump to pricey waters.
There’s uncertainty aboutof which player’s name will get called upon first, but with Winn’s proven defensive success and offense that is coming along, it makes him a strong candidate.
