If All-Star nominations were made today, Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn would represent the offense in St. Louis—not perennial All-Stars Nolan Arenado or Paul Goldschmidt. Willson Contreras has constructed a case, but he’s injured at the moment. Thus, the rookie would receive the team’s nomination today from its position players.

The main attraction for Winn, 22, is his booming howitzer of an arm. At the 2022 All-Star Futures Game, Winn broke the internet with a mind-boggling 100.5 mph throw from short to first—a record for the hardest infield throw in the Statcast-era. In this moment, Winn proved to a national audience that his arm can be a difference-maker at the next level.

While defense may have been Winn’s calling card, he also made considerable improvements at the plate this offseason in sporting a .311//360/.444 slash in 202 plate appearances thus far this season in contrast to .172/.230/.238 in 137 plate appearances last season.

Winn’s batting average (7th in NL) and on-base percentage (14th in NL) pace the team (min. 200 AB) and rank him among the league’s best at the dish this season. Winn’s production on the basepaths has not been too shabby either with a respectable team-leading 8 stolen bases. 

Surprisingly, Arenado, a 10x Gold Glove Award winner and 6x Platinum Glove Award winner, has been a borderline defensive liability at third this year with a -0.7 dWAR (according to ESPN) while his fielding percentage of .965 ranks him in the middle of the pack (9th of 18 qualified). His slash of .251/.313/.374 at the dish falls significantly short of his career averages of .285/.342/.522 with his power being the most significant element missing (only 6 home runs in 252 plate appearances).

In comparison, Goldschmidt has a higher fielding percentage than Arenado with .996 but has a -0.1 dWAR. His bread and butter has been historically at the plate, but the veteran has been in a prolonged slump with a batting average and OPS that rank in the 120s and 130s for the MLB (.222/.300/.350 in comparison to career averages of .290/.385/.513).

While the product on the field through 55 games has been impressive, Winn still has to maintain his current pace to represent his team at the All-Star Game and has plenty of room to enhance his repertoire to get to Arlington. The Katy, Texas-native was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2020 MLB Draft from high school and displayed the potential to be a five-tool player, but his power has been lacking since he arrived in The Show (5 home runs in 339 plate appearances). 

Despite a few individual shortcomings, there is no denying Winn’s value to the middling Cardinals this season with a team-high 2.1 WAR (10th among position players in NL). The former Top-100 prospect projects to be a franchise player for the foreseeable future in St. Louis.