I’m curious to see what the young infielder has.
(I’ll update this once the Cardinals decide to care.)
The main positive spin you can take from a major injury like Austin Riley’s is potentially being able to give a young player some time to see what he has. With Nick Allen playing stellar defense and hitting just enough, shortstop isn’t a place for Nacho Alvarez. Ozzie Albies is … we’ll say healthy, so second doesn’t have at-bats for him there, either. Alvarez has hit at every minor league stop, and he’s risen up the minor league ladder to debut in the majors at 21 and getting a bit more of a shot again as a just over 22-year old. The start to his season was delayed due to injury, and after a very nifty 50 AAA plate appearances, he got hurt again. But he’s healthy and the Braves need a third baseman. So it’s time to see what he has in a second major-league run, though it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a long one.
On the other side for the Cardinals is Masyn Winn, who similarly sped to the majors. He’s more of a defensive player than Alvarez, and the offensive side is less of a strength. To this point in the year, he’s hitting .255/.314/.379 for an almost exact league-average offensive line. For a shortstop that is actually very good at defense, he’s on pace for a 4+ win season, and that makes you a cornerstone player for a St. Louis Cardinals team that is trying to figure out where exactly it’s heading. Statcast is a little less enamored with him on the offensive side, but at just a little over 23 years old (he and Nacho’s birthdays are pretty close), there’s still some room for growth there.
