ST. LOUIS — Asked in recent years if they thought Masyn Winn might someday capture a Gold Glove Award, 10-time winner Nolan Arenado and four-time honoree Paul Goldschmidt agreed that it would be a major disappointment if the Cardinals’ blossoming shortstop didn’t reel off several top defensive honors over the next decade.
Winn took the first step in possibly accomplishing that feat on Sunday when he captured his first Gold Glove Award and became the youngest winner of the award in the rich history of the Cardinals.
At 23 years, 191 days at season’s end, Winn is the franchise’s youngest Gold Glove winner, edging out third baseman Ken Reitz (24 years, 96 days) in 1975, per Elias Sports. Also, Winn is the fifth-youngest shortstop to win the award behind Anthony Volpe (2023), Alan Trammell (1980), Francisco Lindor (2016) and Ezequiel Tovar (2024).
Winn became the 100th Gold Glove winner in Cardinals history – far and away the most in MLB since Rawlings introduced the award in 1957. Winn joined Édgar Rentería (2002-03), Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith (1982-92) and Dal Maxvill (1968) as the only Cards shortstops to win the award. He also has a solid case of winning the National League’s Platinum Glove Award, an honor nabbed by Yadier Molina (four times) and Arenado (twice) in Cards history.
In his second full season, Winn made his biggest strides defensively while dazzling almost nightly. Limited to 129 games played (127 starts) because of a meniscus tear in his right knee that required arthroscopic surgery in late September, Winn committed just three errors in 501 total chances. His three errors at arguably the game’s most demanding position match the totals of Cal Ripken Jr. (1990) and Omar Vizquel (2000), the fewest by an MLB shortstop, per MLB.com research.
“It’s definitely a great season, but I think it goes back to the work we put in Spring Training and just throughout the year and the attention to detail,” Winn said in summing up his year in September. “Between [Minor League instructor] Jose Oquendo and [infield coach] Stubby [Clapp], they let me know that defense was something I’m going to have to be great at, and something I take pride in. So this season was huge for me by taking a step. It was a big step for me to drop my errors, which I expected of myself.”
Winn became just the eighth shortstop to win a Gold Glove while playing fewer than 1,110 innings. Smith (1,065 1/3 innings in 1984) and Trammell (993 innings in 1984) are on that list. Winn, whose third error of the season came only after MLB overruled a decision by the official scorer on Aug. 19 in Miami, played 1,107 2/3 innings defensively this season.
“In 2014, I played 110 games and won a Gold Glove,” said Arenado, who along with Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki are the only players to win Gold Gloves in their first 10 MLB seasons. “He played [129] games and he’s by far the best fielding shortstop in the National League. If I can do it in 110, there’s no reason why he doesn’t deserve it in 120-something games. His defense has been unbelievable. He’s just so steady and it’s unbelievable to watch him.”
When asked earlier in the season if the knee injury that cut Winn’s season short might hurt his chances of winning his first Gold Glove, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol offered this declaration: “He’s the best shortstop in the game.”
Winn led all of baseball in outs above average through most of 2025 before missing the final two-and-a-half weeks of the regular season. He ultimately finished tied with Ke’Bryan Hayes and Ceddanne Rafaela at 21, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong (24) and Bobby Witt Jr. (24) – all of whom also won Gold Gloves this year.
Cardinals rookie Victor Scott II, a finalist for the NL’s Gold Glove Award in center field, lost out to Crow-Armstrong. Scott II finished with 17 outs above average, the third most among MLB outfielders.
Winn was a finalist for the Gold Glove in 2024, but he ultimately lost out to Colorado’s Tovar because of his 18 errors. He was determined to trim that number of mistakes in 2025, but he never thought he could do something that only Ripken Jr. and Vizquel did with just three errors at arguably the game’s most taxing position.
“That’s pretty cool,” Winn said of matching those two. “I’m assuming those guys played a couple more games than I did, but to be able to go out there and be consistent, that’s all I’ve been asking for of myself. I wanted to show these guys what I could do in terms of being consistent all season.”
