ST. LOUIS — Before their game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday afternoon, the St. Louis Cardinals placed shortstop Masyn Winn on the 10-day Injured List after the 23-year-old left Friday’s contest before the second inning with lower back spasms.
Winn’s back flared up during the second play of Friday’s game when he awkwardly fielded a ground ball from Trea Turner in the middle of the infield and threw to first on the run. He spent the rest of the inning stretching his back out between plays and told first baseman Alec Burleson and third baseman Nolan Arenado he needed to come out of the game. He was removed shortly after.
“My back has been tight the last couple of weeks, but nothing crazy,” Winn said after the Cardinals’ 2-0 win Friday night. “(Friday) was definitely the worst day.
“Somewhat the same as last year, just a back spasm. (Trainers) came in immediately and did a lot of work in there. It feels better now.”
Winn, who has dealt with back issues before, said Friday night that he told team trainers he was not going on the injured list but acknowledged he’d need to miss at least a couple of games. However, after conversing with manager Oli Marmol on Saturday morning, the team decided to err on the side of caution.
“A couple of things go into it,” Marmol said on Winn’s move to the IL. “It’s April, and I don’t want it lingering. If this was July, warmer weather, easier to get loose — but that’s not going to be the case. For him to try to play through it and this to linger for the rest of the month, if not longer … Whenever you’re dealing with something like this, what you tend to do is limit your work prior to the game in order to have enough for the game. And that’s not advantageous for him in April, either.
“I’d rather get this behind us. In talking to him this morning, going on the IL and making sure we feel good coming out rather than just monitoring day-to-day made a lot more sense.”
This was a rather difficult play for #STLCards SS Masyn Winn, who had to charge the ball, avoid the second base bag and fire a throw over to first to beat speedy #Phillies SS Trea Turner. pic.twitter.com/TtZGL2MsbI
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) April 12, 2025
Winn’s back spasms aren’t believed to be serious, but Marmol said Winn would have missed more than two games, and the team didn’t feel comfortable playing shorthanded for longer than that. The Cardinals activated second baseman Nolan Gorman (right hamstring strain) from the 10-day IL as the corresponding move. Gorman’s return will help with overall infield depth, but St. Louis does not have a true backup shortstop on its active roster. For now, Thomas Saggese and Brendan Donovan will trade off.
On Saturday, Saggese started at shortstop with Donovan at second and Gorman on the bench. On days where St. Louis faces a right-handed starter, Donovan will likely get the start at shortstop, with left-handed Gorman taking over at second base.
Donovan has appeared in eight games at shortstop but has started just one game there in his major-league career. Saggese has played shortstop in four major-league games, including Friday night as Winn’s defensive replacement, but did play 70 games there for Triple-A Memphis last season.
While back injuries are finicky, the Cardinals do not believe Winn will miss much time based on his prior stints.
“You can bank on it being within a window of four to six days,” Marmol said. “Historically, he’s been able to do stuff in that range. It’s just a matter of if we’re going to be on the front end of that or the back end of that, and then are you limited in what you’re doing pregame in order to feel good enough to play in a game during that window. That’s where, for this early in the season, it doesn’t make sense to push through that.”
Winn will be eligible to come off the injured list April 22, midway through the Cardinals’ road series against the Atlanta Braves.
(Photo: Joe Puetz / Getty Images)