Bernie Show: Should Winn bat 1st?

03/11/25 • 19 min

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn is a terrific player who turns 23 on March 21. The best is yet to come. But as a leadoff man, Winn struggled to get onbase, especially when facing right-handed pitching. And for the season, his .290 leadoff OBP was 29th among the 30 hitters who had the most plate appearances batting leadoff. Overall, Winn was 25th among 30 leadoff men with a 93 wRC+ -- which translates to 7% below league average offensively. He was much worse (23% below league average) against RH pitchers. Manager Oli Marmol has attractive leadoff options in Brendan Donovan. What will Marmol do if Winn struggles, again, in the No. 1 spot?

Previous Episode

Bernie Show: Pujols & Molina, campaigning.

In recent interviews, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina separately expressed their desire to manage in the big leagues. Pujols was the subject of an excellent story written by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, and Molina shared his feelings in an interview with the fantastic Katie Woo of The Athletic. I encourage all of you to read them.

In this video -- because of timing -- I'll focus on Pujols because of the endorsements he's receiving from prominent voices in and around the game. And I'm focusing on Pujols because of something Nightengale wrote: Pujols (as a spring-training instructor) had a 45-minute meeting with Angels hitters that was so powerful and stirring, even the Angels pitchers and others slipped into the meeting room to listen. And why do I care about this meeting? Because Pujols referenced all of the great, esteemed Cardinals legends, and described their impact on the way he played baseball. And he still carries their passed--down wisdom forward.

Sounds like something the Cardinals could use.

Next Episode

Bernie Show: Opening Day in STL won't be the same.

The 2025 Cardinals haven't done much to generate enthusiasm within their sprawling fan base in advance of the new season. Not a dollar spent on a major-league free agents. No significant additions. In what was supposed to be a "reset" year, the Cardinals are bringing back most of the parts from their 83-win team in 2024.

Over the last two seasons the Cards rank 22nd among 30 MLB teams in winning percentage. Despite that, the Cardinals ranked 4th in the majors in home-game tickets sold in 2023, and were 7th in 2024. But a lot of folks weren't using the tickets they purchased; the no-show factor is glaring and obvious.

The 2025 season will be particularly challenging for the Cardinals, who haven't done much (if anything) to rally the fan base after the past two years. And as of today, the Cardinals were seemingly struggling to fill Busch Stadium for the March 27 Opening Day. If you go to the Cards' official web site and look at the available tickets for the first game of the season, the visual is stunning. There are swaths of seats available, even in the seating areas that used to be highly coveted. Opening Day in St. Louis won't be the same.