During the All-Star Break, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop surprised fans when he revealed that he’d been playing through a nagging knee injury for several weeks. In an interview with FanDuel Sports Midwest back in July, Winn admitted his knee was “jacked up” and “not okay,” explaining that it had been bothering him for quite some time.
The lingering issue eventually forced Winn to shut down his season early, missing the final month of play. He underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus on September 25th — a procedure that went smoothly and as expected. Many fans assumed his recovery would take until Opening Day, but Winn recently shared a much more encouraging update.
Appearing on The Gashouse Gang with Chris Rongey and Tom Ackerman, the Gold Glove shortstop sounded upbeat about his progress and confident about his timeline.
“The knee’s feeling great. I had surgery and was doing physical therapy the next day,” Winn said with a smile. “I’ve been going hard at it, just trying to get back right. I jogged on it for the first time a couple of days ago — that was amazing.”
He added that his knee already feels better than it did during the season and that he’s “super excited for next year.” Winn assured the hosts that he expects to be fully cleared soon, saying, “I should be good to go in the next month.” He and the Cardinals’ medical staff are focused on balancing an accelerated recovery with long-term stability, ensuring that the team’s cornerstone shortstop avoids any setbacks.
Before his injury, Winn was enjoying a solid sophomore campaign, slashing .253/.310/.363 with nine home runs and nine steals. His knee trouble clearly affected his second-half performance — he posted just a .629 OPS and hit .247 after the break — but his defensive excellence never wavered.
Despite the dip in offense, Winn was one of baseball’s elite defenders in 2025. He led all National League shortstops in Outs Above Average and recorded a .994 fielding percentage, the best among all shortstops, committing only three errors all season.
While the Cardinals and new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom haven’t yet begun extension talks, Winn seems open to a long-term future in St. Louis.
“I know the media would love to have me around, and I would love to be around this organization for a while,” he said.
With Gold Glove-caliber defense, leadership potential, and a relentless work ethic, Masyn Winn looks poised to be a foundational piece of the Cardinals’ future — and his encouraging recovery update is exactly what fans hoped to hear heading into 2026.