The St. Louis Cardinals' playoff hopes may be dwindling by the day, but that doesn't mean that they are taking getting pushed out of the postseason picture without a fight. On Wednesday night, the Cardinals faced a difficult matchup in the San Diego Padres but came out victorious in walk-off fashion thanks to a clutch single from veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado.
However, Arenado's heroics would not have been possible without some help from his teammates. With two outs in the ninth inning, young shortstop Masyn Winn came to the plate and promptly reached base via single, thereby keeping the Cardinals' hopes of winning the game without the need for extra innings alive. Moreover, Victor Scott II also did his part, hitting a single as well, which then set up Arenado's walk-off hit.
Nolan Arenado, like the great veteran that he is, was quick to credit the teammates that made his heroics on the night possible. Speaking to Bally Sports Midwest reporter Jim Hayes immediately after the game, Arenado showered Winn and Scott with praise, with the third baseman even calling the former the Cardinals' best player.
“Masyn's been our best player, man. This guy's a stud. I couldn't be more impressed with the guy, with the way he works. And he's a smart man, he's smart with his work,” Arenado said. “And Vic, man, he's just making strides every day. I'm happy to drive 'em in, man. They did their job, and it was about time I did mine.”
It's hard to argue against Arenado's assessment of Masyn Winn. Despite being just 22 years of age, Winn has emerged as an all-around star for the Cardinals; in addition to playing quality defense in the most difficult position in the infield, he has also been a positive contributor on the plate, slashing .286/.335/.424. Winn leads the team in WAR, per Fangraphs, with 3.3 — a testament to how great of a young player he already is.
With Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, pillars of the Cardinals lineup over the past few years, currently in decline, the Cardinals need young players like Winn to step up. And that's exactly what the 22-year-old shortstop has been doing.
Nolan Arenado speaks out on importance of Cardinals' win over Padres
Even with their 4-3 win over the Padres, it remains very unlikely for the Cardinals to threaten for a playoff spot given how congested the NL Wild Card picture is. With a 66-67 record, they remain seven games back of the third and final wild card spot, and they will have to surpass four teams in the process (San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, and Atlanta Braves). With only 29 games remaining on the season, that is a herculean task.
Nevertheless, Nolan Arenado knows that the thing they can do is control what they can control. Grabbing a win against a current Wild Card team in the Padres was very necessary for them to try and remain alive in the hunt for a postseason berth.
“It's huge. That's a really great team. That's probably a playoff team. We needed to get a win. We got to take care of home field. It hasn't been pretty. But it's a good win against a good team,” Arenado added.
The Cardinals have one more difficult game against the Padres (which, thankfully for them, will be at Busch Stadium) before they embark on yet another difficult series, this time against the New York Yankees.
Follow Us
Subscribe
