911±¬ÁÏÍø

“It’s like sinker, sinker, sinker, sinker,� Mikolas said. “And I’m like what the (heck)? And the clock is counting down. And I’ve got to throw it.�

Mikolas wanted to throw a four-seam fastball.

He ended up yielding to the ornery PitchCom and throwing a sinker.

A leadoff single followed, and for the rest of the first inning, Mikolas did not call a pitch, leaving that to Pages. It wasn’t until the second inning that he got the PitchCom device put on his settings. And then, it was like curveball, curveball, curveball, curveball.

The Cardinals’ veteran starter spun the Milwaukee Brewers through five innings Sunday in what became a 3-2 victory at the end of an otherwise winless road trip. Mikolas (8-10) allowed a leadoff double in the second inning and then called the pitches to strikeout the side. He got two of the batters swinging at curveballs, and he struck out the third on a fastball when the batter was expecting a curveball. For the fourth consecutive start, Mikolas pitched at least five innings and allowed fewer than two runs. Both of the runs on Sunday against Mikolas came on solo homers. He’s shaved his ERA down from 5.17 to 4.80 in five starts. And, his past two have come against teams likely bound for the playoffs.

“Being competitive against good teams,� Mikolas said of what he’s been able to show. “Proving to myself that you can get outs and give your team a shot against good baseball clubs is very encouraging to me and hopefully encouraging to anyone who is watching.�

Mikolas, 37, is entering the final weeks of three-year, $55.75-million extension he signed with the Cardinals. He’s one of the longest-tenured Cardinals having spent the past eight seasons in the rotation. A two-time All-Star, he’s one start away from four consecutive years of 30 starts, but he also has an ERA of 4.51 in that span. The win Sunday balanced his record as a Cardinal to 68-68.

The right-hander effectively spans eras for the Cardinals – from perennial contention and a preference for pitch-to-contact pitchers to a retooling team and its quest for more strikeouts.

Mikolas wants to continue pitching in an industry that increasingly prefers whiffs, but his recent outings show how his game can thrive. Against an eager Athletics lineup, Mikolas challenged them with pitches in the zone and relied on his defense to get through six innings without a strike out. Against the power-packed Mariners, he shifted approach and was able to avoid giving up damage hits by not taking the same approach that he had vs. Athletics.

Facing a Brewers’ lineup Sunday that hunts early fastballs and then does what it can to avoid strikeouts, Mikolas fed them curveballs.

“There have been a couple of times where just knowing going into a series what they do well, his ability to game-plan with Dusty (Blake) and understand how to change it up before he needs to is important,� manager Oli Marmol said.

“A lot of these lineups are doing it a little different,� Mikolas said. “Milwaukee a lot of times is death by a thousand cuts. I don’t know if I’ve seen so many infield hits against a team in three days. You’ve got guys like the Mariners and – what? – they are second or third in the league in home runs. So, they’re doing it a little different. Being able to adjust to the different lineups and respond to that is important.�

Which is why he wanted to start the game Sunday with that four-seam fastball.

It would be a different look for the Brewers.

Once he got the tech reset for his preferences, Mikolas was able to lean into them. He threw more four-seam fastballs than any other pitch, and he paired that with 21 curveballs. The Brewers did not put one of them in play. They fouled off five. They took six for strikes. They swung and missed at three – all of those coming as the final pitch of a strikeout.

“They’re a team that is on the fastball early and then they’re trying to put the ball in play late,� Mikolas said. “They don’t try to strike out a lot. One of my better weak-contact pitches is my curveball. It’s one of those pitches and it’s the slowest one. So if you’re really waiting back, trying to go the other way, sometimes that’s just too slow.�

His next start, his penultimate start of the season, is scheduled to be against the Brewers.

Watch for adjustments.

For years, Mikolas, a native of Jupiter, Florida, has talked openly about wanting to remain a Cardinal, and his most recent contract had the no-trade clause that gave him that power. He would welcome an offer from the team and its new front office leadership to return for 2026. He made his pitch Sunday with a nod toward his next start, which could be his final start as a Cardinal at Busch Stadium, and how to view his recent performances.

“That’s up for teams and the front office to decide,� Mikolas said. “I know my numbers are pretty good this year (at home). If they need someone to just pitch at Busch Stadium – one of those Roger Clemens deals. I’ll just pitch at home. All joking aside, yeah, I love baseball. It’s a big part of my life. I’m trying to finish strong to try and increase my chance of landing somewhere next year. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens.�

Contreras, Donovan get a break

The Cardinals successfully avoided using both Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan in Sunday’s win. The Cardinals baked-in a day off for Donovan shortly after he returned from the 10-day injured list, and the team had some concerns about a variety of aches for their veteran first baseman, Contreras. He was drilled in the back by a 101-mph fastball Saturday, and that added to other muscle aches and soreness that Contreras had been playing through.

Marmol said he wanted to avoid using Contreras completely Sunday so that he’d be available for the majority – if not all – of the final home stand.

Donovan was expected to return to second base Monday.

Wash U alum a bear for Cardinals

Milwaukee rookie Caleb Durbin doubled and homered in his first two at-bats against Mikolas to continue what’s been a pesky year for him against the club from the city where he went to college.

Durbin is the first position player from Washington University in 911±¬ÁÏÍø to reach the majors in more than a generation, and in his first big-league season he’s been a significant part of the Brewers’ bid for another National League Central title. Not that he was expected to be. Durbin prepared for 2025 believing he would be competing for a role in the Yankees’ infield. An offseason trade that sent 911±¬ÁÏÍø native Devin Williams to the Bronx brought Durbin to Milwaukee, and he has emerged as a strong defender and offensive sparkplug.

The Cardinals have seen the best of him.

Durbin’s double and solo homer Sunday upped his success against the Cardinals to 12-for-28 (.429). In his first 34 plate appearances against the Cardinals, Durbin reached base more times (18) than the Cardinals got him out (16).

The Cardinals balanced the scales by striking him out in the sixth with the tying run in scoring position and Durbin flew out in the eight to put his on-base percentage this summer against the Cardinals at .500 in 10 games. He’ll bring that to 911±¬ÁÏÍø this weekend for the Brewers’ visit and final regular-season series of the season.

Promoted from Class Low-A Palm Beach on Tuesday after making his minor league debut with the PB-Cards on Sept. 6, Doyle completed two scoreless innings Saturday for Springfield (Missouri). Doyle’s Class AA debut comes ahead of the start of the Texas League playoffs, which begin Tuesday and could offer him a pressurized environment as he looks to make the most of his late-season promotion to Class AA.

“Just really learn how to play pro ball,� Doyle said Thursday via video call of what he hopes he can get from spending the final stretch of the minor league season with Springfield. “I’ve been in a real pro ball system now for a little over a week. ... And then just go out there and compete. Obviously, this team is trying to win a Texas League Championship, which is pretty cool. It’s a privilege just to be in Double-A baseball itself.�

Doyle struck out three batters on 30 pitches, 20 of which were strikes, in his start against the San Antonio Missions, the Padres’ Class AA affiliate. The lefty began the outing by getting a line out against the first hitter he faced. He froze Padres minor league Albert Fabian with a 98 mph fastball in an 0-2 count to record his first Class AA strikeout and followed that by getting Eguy Rosario to whiff on an 0-2 change-up to end the first inning.

After allowing back-to-back hits with one out to put runners on second and third base in the second inning, Doyle recorded a third strikeout on a fastball when he got Oswaldo Linares to whiff on the fifth pitch of their encounter. The lefty induced an inning-ending ground out on the final pitch of the outing for Springfield as he gets to know a new level of baseball.

“It’s pretty cool. Being here even in the past two games has been pretty sweet to watch how this team functions and all the talent that’s been here between (major league) guys rehabbing and all the talent they already have has been pretty sweet,� Doyle said Thursday he stood outside Springfield’s clubhouse at Hammons Field. “Even in Florida, playing down in Palm Beach was pretty cool. A lot of young talent there, and it was really fun. This organization has been such a treat so far.�

Drafted fifth overall on July 13 and signed three days later, Doyle described the transition into professional baseball as “a whole blur� as he’s met new players and coaches throughout the organization and built up to be game-ready. His move to Class AA came after pitching 1 2/3 innings in one Class Low-A start. In his lone start in Class Low-A, Doyle struck out three batters, walked two and allowed one run on a solo homer.

“It’s something that I’ve always dreamed of happening,� Doyle said of his professional debut. “It was just another step for me. Hopefully, there are a lot more debuts to come. ... Putting on a Cardinals jersey for the first time and pitching in a game was definitely a dream that I’ve always had of doing.�

The rise to Class AA adds Doyle to a Springfield club that has set a franchise record in wins with 87 heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale against San Antonio.

Doyle noted the familiarity Springfield teammates have with one another and their bonds on and off the field as qualities that stand out for the affiliate. The Tennessee product, who pitched in the College World Series for the Volunteers this year, likened the characteristics of the club to those of a collegiate program — one, he noted, that has a common goal in sight.

“We’re all here in the same spot, and we’ve all earned the right to be in Double-A baseball, which is a huge accomplishment in itself,� Doyle said. “We’re all just trying to do the same thing, and that’s just make the Cardinals organization that much better. Obviously, we’re all trying to reach the top and win a World Series and do all that. But you take everything that you can while you’re here, appreciate Double-A baseball and learn a lot from guys that are around you.�

Do not add more teams to the MLB playoffs!

Since Manfred’s mid-August interview with ESPN, in which he revealed realities of realignment and team expansion, folks have discussed a possible trickle-down:

If there are 32 MLB teams (perhaps with Nashville and Salt Lake City added through expansion), “clean� math suggests a 156-game schedule, down from 162. And a way to make up money that’s lost from those six regular-season games? More postseason games!

Don’t do it, Rob. It’ll taint tradition and essentially just be an undignified money grab.

Because, quite simply, the playoffs should only include teams worthy of being a “playoff team.� Already, since they expanded to six teams per league, there have been some good-not-great teams sneaking in along with the greats. Even 12 total playoff teams is a dangerous experiment. Just look at the 2025 National League.

The big-money Mets are on a deliciously inexplicable free fall — they entered Sunday as losers of eight straight. And New York entered the day at 76-73 and just a 1/2 game up on San Francisco (75-73) in the wild card. The Reds (1 1/2 back), Diamondbacks (2 back) and even the Cardinals (4 games back to start Sunday) are mathematically “in it.� So one of these teams will be the third wild card team.

The 2025 Cardinals are not a postseason team.

Yes, mathematically, they could sneak in and, in the spirit of 2006, win the postseason. But gosh, the 2025 Cardinals are not a deserving postseason team (as of Sept. 14).

So what I’m getting at is: Eight playoff teams per league means unworthy teams will get a crack at the postseason. Sub-.500 teams will sometimes be playoff teams. That’s just wrong!

And sure, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League have 16 playoff teams each.

But it’s much easier for a bad baseball team to win a three-game series (or even a five-game series) than a bad basketball or hockey team. We see it all regular season — even the Rockies have gone on some runs here and there. In a small sample size, baseball is random. One starting pitcher can have his best day and change the complexion of a whole series. Or batted-ball luck for the underdog could determine the outcome of the great team’s dream.

Meanwhile, the eighth seed seldom beats the No. 1 seed in the other sports. And — this part is important — when it does happen, the No. 8 seed seldom then makes a run though other teams, all the way to the title. But in baseball, that can happen. The 83-win Cards team in 2006 did (though it’s quite fair to point out that team had future Cardinal Hall of Fame players Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Chris Carpenter and a fresh-faced rookie in the bullpen wearing No. 50 named Adam Wainwright). And the 2023 Diamondbacks did — they won 83 games and, soon after, the pennant.

The whole point of baseball’s 162-game season (or even a reduced schedule length) is to weed out the best from the rest. So we should know on the last day of the season who is deserving to compete for a championship — and those should be the only teams in the playoffs (though sometimes the 2023 Diamondbacks sneak in).

The World Series is sacred. The baseball playoffs are revered. Yes, there is randomness — but it’s randomness accomplished by players already on a worthy team. Being a playoff team in baseball should be worth more than in basketball or hockey — that’s the nature of our great game. And yes, I’m being traditional here, perhaps even antiquated, a youngster could argue. But just because baseball can expand the postseason doesn’t mean it should.

There should be a line drawn.

And sure, more national broadcasts of playoff games means more money for investors involved. And people will watch — especially if their team is in the playoffs (and wouldn’t have been in the 12-team setup). But it doesn’t make it right.

Baseball can keep its integrity even with team expansion and division realignment. (Oh, and no matter what happens, the Cardinals and Cubs must remain in the same division, Rob!) But a diluted postseason would mar the game. Especially the first time a sub-.500 team wins the hardware that’s officially called the commissioner’s trophy.

“Those two guys have done really damn good,� Marmol said, leaning back in his office chair. “They’ve earned the opportunity to just say, ‘Go get them tomorrow.’�

What he said Saturday, they did Sunday.

Less than 24 hours later, Romero and O’Brien had a smaller lead to hold and the same innings to do it. Romero pitched around a single to keep the Brewers scoreless in the eighth, and O’Brien struck out two in the ninth to secure a 3-2 victory at American Family Field. Undone by mistakes elsewhere in the game Saturday, the scoreless innings by Romero and O’Brien covered for a baserunning blunder earlier in Sunday’s game that likely cost the Cardinals a rout.

Instead, the bullpen inherited a one-run game and froze it there with Romero and O’Brien making most of an immediate mulligan.

They did indeed get them tomorrow.

“It was good to get them out there the very next day,� Marmol said. “I was able to talk to (O’Brien), and he was feeling bad because of how that game ended. It’s nice for him to bounce back and do what he did. Just be on the attack.�

The win halted the Cardinals’ five-game losing streak and kept them from a winless six-game road trip. At 73-77, they return to 911±¬ÁÏÍø to open Monday their final homestand of the regular season and final two home series of John Mozeliak’s tenure as president of baseball operations.

Nolan Arenado will be awaiting them and is expected to be in the lineup for the first time since going on the injured list with a shoulder injury almost six weeks ago. The Cardinals have the opportunity to put together their preferred lineup for the first time since late July.

That was also the last time the Cardinals had their full-strength bullpen. Three trades at the deadline shipped out three high-leverage relievers, including All-Star closer Ryan Helsley, and forced a rewrite of how the Cardinals spelled relief.

They reorganized the bullpen around Matt Svanson and Kyle Leahy pitching multiple innings in close games and setting up for Romero or O’Brien to close. The first real hiccup came Saturday night when both closer options were out of sync. A game the Cardinals led by five runs at one point became a tie game in the ninth after Romero and O’Brien combined to allow five runs. Three of those runs came after the Brewer reached base by a walk or a bruise.

Marmol called it one of the most frustrating losses of the season but described Sunday morning how it gave him and the coaching staff a chance to meet with multiple players about the costly mistakes on offense and defense that happened before a reliever took the ball.

One of those conversations was with O’Brien.

“He just said, ‘Don’t stress it,’� the right-hander said. “‘You’ve been throwing well this year. Don’t even think about it. Just move on to the next one.�

The next one also hinged around a mistake.

In the second inning, the Cardinals forced Milwaukee lefty Jose Quintana to throw 40 pitches. Six of the first seven batters of the inning reached base. Quintana walked two, and the other four had base hits. The inning also featured two stolen bases for the Cardinals and an 11-pitch at-bat by rookie Nathan Church. The left-handed-hitting Church skipped an infield single against the lefty Quintana for an RBI.

But despite all of that traffic, all of those base runners buzzing about and all of the Brewers fielders giving chance, when the inning settled, Quintana was still in the game.

And the Cardinals led only 3-0.

The reason was a runner caught stealing after a walk.

Jose Fermin had an RBI single in the inning and stole second. He took third on Church’s RBI single, and that is where Fermin stood as Quintana walked Lars Nootbaar — until he strayed from the base. Fermin appeared to bite on a pump fake by the Brewers’ catcher, and he took off for home. Nootbaar was still unstrapping his protective pads when Fermin got caught in a rundown that ended with an out near third. Instead of the bases loaded, Quintana on tilt and right-handed hitter Ivan Herrera up, the Cardinals ran themselves out of a bigger rally.

“There is a level of frustration there,� Marmol said. “It’s not even that you can attribute it to youthfulness. It’s just a mistake. ... Those are the things you can’t do against a good team. This is a really good team across the way. It’s a very good roster. And they do a lot of things well. You can’t miss opportunities and let them off the hook like we did. You just can’t. We got away with it.�

How they got away with it Sunday when such mistakes cost them Saturday was simple.

They pitched.

Starter Miles Mikolas spun the Brewers with his curveball through five innings. Down 3-0, the Brewers got a leadoff double in their half of the inning. Mikolas (8-10) struck out the next three batters, two of them on curveballs and the third while he expected a curveball. He threw 21 curveballs in the game, and Milwaukee did not put one of them in play. Mikolas struck out five total, and the only home runs he allowed were solo shots by Washington University alumnus Caleb Durbin and backup catcher Danny Jansen.

The score was 3-2 when Mikolas yielded the mound to the bullpen.

Lefty John King struck out right-handed-hitting Durbin with two on the sixth inning, and that proved pivotal for how Milwaukee utilized its bench and how the Cardinals engineered the matchups for the later innings.

After the strikeout, the Brewers went to pinch hitter Blake Perkins. The Cardinals countered with Jorge Alcala to bring his 1 1/3 scoreless innings. And that put Perkins up first in the ninth inning. O’Brien struck him out on three pitches.

Three batters later, he had his second strikeout of the inning and fourth save of the season — but his first after bouncing back by returning to the same role, in the same spot.

“If anything, the mentality thing is the biggest part of it to win these games,� O’Brien said. “I felt good. The game didn’t speed up on me, I was under control and it just didn’t work out (Saturday). This helped me flush it. They trust me to do my job.�

Riley O’Brien and JoJo Romero, the right-left combo the Cardinals are using to close out games, pitched scoreless innings to hold tight for a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals scored all of their runs in the second inning, and they could have opened up a far larger lead if not for a baserunning mistake. By the time the game got to the bullpen, it was a one-run lead.

Four relievers combined for four scoreless innings, with O’Brien speeding through the ninth. A day after misplacing a lead by hitting two batters in the ninth inning, O’Brien did not allow a hit at all to close out his fourth save of the season. Romero pitched a scoreless eighth. Both relievers had to get the final out of their innings with the potential tying run on base.

The win ended the Cardinals’ five-game losing streak.

After a 1-5 road trip, the Cardinals return to 911±¬ÁÏÍø for their final homestand of the regular season.

The Cardinals turned a laborious inning for Brewers starter and Jose Quintana into a 3-0 lead in the second inning — and had to hold tight from there. A baserunning mistake kept the Cardinals from bouncing Quintana from the game in that inning and widening the lead.

Pitching made up for it.

Miles Mikolas held the Brewers to two runs through his five innings, and he did not complicate his outing with walks. Instead, he struck out five. He handed a one-run lead to a bullpen that splintered and burst Saturday. This time, it held.

Mikolas rides curve to K's

The way Mikolas navigated through five innings to maintain the lead presented to him by a single rally took a few curveballs.

A leadoff double in the second inning threatened to immediately answer the Cardinals’ three-run burst in the top of that inning. Mikolas didn’t let it.

He spun the bottom of the Brewers’ lineup with curveballs.

Mikolas struck out Jake Bauers with a curveball. He then dropped a curveball on catcher Danny Jansen. And to finish off the inning with three consecutive strikeouts, he challenged Andruw Monasterio with a fastball out of the same tunnel as the curveball. A day after his walk-off single sent the Brewers to a 10th-inning victory, Monasterio struck out swinging on a 93.6 mph fastball to end the inning. The Brewer who hit the double did not budge due to the three strikeouts.

Mikolas continued accumulating K's.

He struck out former MVP Christian Yelich on a curveball to end the third inning, and he caught leadoff hitter Sal Frelick staring at a sinker in the fifth inning. Mikolas mixed five strikeouts with five hits allowed, and the two runs the Brewers scored on him came on homers. Mikolas threw his curveball 21 times, more than any other pitch save the fastball, and the Brewers did not put one of them in play.

They fouled it off five times.

They took six of them for strikes.

And they swung and missed at it three times.

Blunder likely costs Cards runs

A caught stealing on a walk must be rare.

A caught stealing at third on walk is almost unthinkable.

Yet that’s what the Cardinals watched happen in the second inning to quash what could have been a run bonanza against the Brewers and lefty starter and former Cardinals pitcher Quintana. Six of the first seven Cardinals reached base safely in that inning, and the one who did not — Pedro Pages — hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the first run of the game.

Quintana would throw 40 pitches in the inning, allow four hits and walk two.

The Cardinals also stole two bases in the inning.

Nathan Church, the Cardinals’ rookie center fielder, worked Quintana through an 11-pitch at-bat that ended with the left-handed-hitting Church getting an infield RBI single off Quintana.

And yet, despite all that action, the Cardinals led by only 3-0.

The inning came undone at third due to a baserunning blunder.

Leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar drew a walk that would have loaded the bases again with only one out. At third base, Jose Fermin bit on a pump fake throw. He had just stolen second base and reached third on Church’s single. But the pump fake drew him down the line as Nootbaar took off his gear to walk to first. Fermin had no reason to try and advance — and yet he did and was quickly caught in a rundown for the second out of the inning.

That gave Quintana an escape hatch.

He struck out Ivan Herrera, and the Cardinals had their lead to hold.

It was just thinner than it could have been.

This was a pivotal moment

In the sixth inning, lefty John King entered to hold a one-run lead to through a thicket of left-handed batters.

His biggest out may have been a right-handed batter.

The Brewers carved into the Cardinals’ early 3-0 lead with two solo homers, both off Mikolas. One of those homers was hit by Caleb Durbin (more on that below). The rookie right-handed hitter loomed as the fourth batter of the sixth inning against King if the Brewers could get there.

They did.

Singles from pinch hitter Andrew Vaughn and Brice Turang put the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run on base. The Cardinals stayed with King against Durbin despite the rookie’s better slugging percentage against lefties, .426 to .379 vs. right-handers.

King had to get that out, had to complete that pivotal assignment for the Cardinals to dictate a matchup with the next batter and later in the game.

King got it.

He struck out Durbin with two teammates on base to hold the lead where it was. Jorge Alcala then entered to push the Brewers into a decision that would shape the matchups later. Alcala got a hard line drive from pinch hitter Blake Perkins that Jordan Walker caught in right field to end the inning. If the game played out from there as the Cardinals plotted, Perkins would be the switch-hitting batter in that spot in the ninth.

He led off the inning against right-hander O’Brien.

WashU alum rakes vs. Cardinals

The Brewers trailed by three runs and Mikolas was on the brink of his fourth consecutive scoreless inning when a new — but now recurring — pest for the Cardinals emerged.

Durbin, the first position player from Washington University in 911±¬ÁÏÍø to reach the majors in generations, hit a solo homer to start the Brewers’ scoring. Durbin’s 11th homer of the season cut the Cardinals’ lead to 3-1 — and it continued his success against the team from his alma mater’s city.

The Brewers acquired Durbin from the Yankees in the Devin Williams trade, swapping a 911±¬ÁÏÍø native for a package of players that included a WashU alum. A rookie, Durbin has been part of the Brewers’ spunky defense and a regular contributor for the offense.

Ask the Cardinals. Sunday was the 10th game of his career against the Cardinals, and after he homered in the fourth inning, he was 12 for 28 vs. the Cardinals for a .429 average.

He doubled in his first at-bat, and when paired with the solo homer, that meant in his first 34 plate appearances against the Cardinals, Durbin reached base 18 times while the Cardinals retired him only 16 times.

“I was hoping after having three days off it would feel a lot better,� he said Saturday evening. “I showed up (Friday), and it was really tough to swing, really tough to take ground balls. The training staff noticed it. I was trying to hide it a little bit. But (I) went in there, got some work done. Kind of in a lot of pain. Made the executive decision to just shut it down.

“They could have shut me down three and a half, four months ago, but they let me go out there and play,� the shortstop continued. “That’s all I asked for. I want to thank them, for sure.�

The decision to end his season Friday night became an official transaction Saturday as the Cardinals placed their second-year shortstop on the 10-day injured list.

Winn said he’ll likely travel in the coming week to seek a second opinion on treatment for the damaged meniscus in his right knee. He expects to have arthroscopic surgery within the next two weeks. It will be the second time he’s had surgery on the right knee to address damage to his meniscus. He had a similar procedure during high school and was back on the field within three months, he said.

He and the Cardinals medical officials do not expect the surgery to limit or delay his offseason preparation for 2026.

“That is also why I kept playing this year,� Winn said. “Why miss four months of the season when I could miss four months of the offseason? I had the surgery back in high school, came back in two and a half, three months, so I’ll take more time this year to really make sure. I’ll take my time to make sure everything is great. I would assume by New Year’s, I’ll be ready to go.�

Winn, 23, finished the season with a .253 average, a .310 on-base percentage and a .363 slugging percentage for a .673 OPS. His offensive production was down across the back of his baseball card as he also played in 21 fewer games.

He insisted Saturday he did not want to use the injury as “excuse.�

It limited him on the bases and in the batter’s box, and that prompted a blunt answer from Winn when asked what he needed to accomplish getting ready for spring training.

“I’ve got to hit. That’s that simple,� he said. “Really, the offensive side. Hoping that fully healthy, I’ll be able to take some more bags next year.�

Winn hit .292 in July, most of which he played after receiving an anti-inflammatory shot in the right knee. Through August, he hit .200, and his average dipped further to .190 in the limited appearances this month. In his final 121 at-bats, Winn had more strikeouts (34) than hits (24) and produced only six extra-base hits.

What the Cardinals saw from him during that stretch was the beginnings of adjustments he’s making to a shift in how opponents pitched to him. Manager Oli Marmol described in August how Winn has the swing to be a high-average hitter as he unlocks his use of the whole field.

Marmol elaborated in his office Saturday.

“I think we started to see a little bit of it ... in just taking the single the other way,� the manager said. “I think the league will start to pitch away from your slug when they know you want to slug. So you’ll see a lot less pitches on the inner half. And you have to prove you can beat them differently. And he started to show that. There are games when the results aren’t there, but you can see the intent was. And that’s growth. That’s what you want to see.�

“It gives me a ton of hope as to what to expect next year because of, one, he’ll be fully healthy,� Marmol continued. “But, two, he started to understand the approach of when to take his shots and when to take what the game is giving him. That is a big step at his age.�

Defensively, Winn took all the steps in the right direction.

A favorite to win the National League’s Gold Glove Award at shortstop, Winn’s season ends with him leading the majors in outs above average, per Statcast. Winn finished as a finalist for the award last year because the advanced defensive metrics adored his play. But he committed 18 errors, and that reduced his support in voting for the highest defensive honor. This season, he trimmed his error total to three.

He is the first full-time shortstop to finish a season with three or fewer errors since Omar Vizquel in 2000. The only other shortstop with three or fewer errors in a season in the past 40 years was Cal Ripken Jr., with three in 1990.

“I’m assuming those guys played a couple more games than I did,� Winn said.

Deep into his ironman streak of consecutive games, Ripken logged 1,406 1/3 innings at shortstop in 1990 and had 680 total chances. Vizquel played 1,328 2/3 innings at shortstop in 2000 and had 648 total chances. This season, Winn played 1,107 1/3 innings at shortstop, and with the Cardinals’ contact-oriented staff, he had 501 total chances.

Winn qualifies for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award this season, and if he wins, he won’t even be the Cardinals shortstop with the fewest innings in a Gold Glove year.

Ozzie Smith played 1,065 1/3 at shortstop in 1984.

Winn first felt the pain in his knee in late May or early June. After a few weeks of playing through it, he had a scan taken of the knee to determine the root cause. That scan revealed the tear and prompted conversation on whether he could do further damage to his knee or injury himself in another way by trying to play. Assured that he could not, Winn pressed on to keep playing.

A goal he mentioned as far back as spring training was being an “everyday� shortstop for the Cardinals and playing as many games as possible. He explained that he had those innings and those chances in mind and was set out to show that he could play exceptional defense — daily.

He was willing to push through the pain to do so as long as it let him.

He hoped it would me one more game at home.

“I wanted to play in front of those fans one more time,� Winn said. “To be able to go out there and be consistent — that is all I’ve been asking of myself and what I wanted to show these guys around here.�

Arenado set for return

Gold Glove winner veteran Nolan Arenado batted second and played third for Class AA Springfield (Missouri) on Saturday, and that appearance set him up for a return to the big league lineup Monday. Arenado did not play for the S-Cards on Sunday, choosing instead to go through some conditioning work and then travel back to 911±¬ÁÏÍø.

He will be active Monday as the Cardinals begin the final homestand of the regular season, the Cardinals said.

In Springfield’s 7-4 victory Saturday night, Arenado went 0 for 3 with a run scored.

Arenado is in the minors and on a rehab assignment for the first time since 2014, when he was with the Colorado Rockies. He’s recovering from a shoulder injury that put him on the IL near the end of July.