Winn has bragging rights over Walker with 435-foot HR

Cards' No. 2 prospect follows up 99.9 mph throw from short to first with monster homer

March 3rd, 2023

JUPITER, Fla. -- Moreso than hitting the first Grapefruit League home run of his career Friday, Cardinals elite prospect Masyn Winn took more delight from the fact that his mammoth blast outdistanced teammate Jordan Walker’s long ball from five days earlier.

Winn, ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Cards system and No. 50 overall, per MLB Pipeline, led off the sixth inning of St. Louis’ 8-3 win over the Marlins with a towering home run at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Not only did the ball leave Winn’s bat at 106.8 mph, it traveled 435 feet. That’s five feet longer than the blast that Walker hit off the Marlins on Sunday for the first Grapefruit League home run of his career.

“I took a good swing and didn’t really feel it off the bat, so I knew that was a good sign,” said Winn, who is 5-for-10 in Spring Training following Friday’s home run. “Then, I just took a little jog. I told everyone I was going to [homer] and then I did.”

When the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Winn learned that his homer measured five feet longer than that of the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Walker, he had this to say about his Double-A roommate: “Now that I know that, there’s a good chance it will come up several times in conversation.”

Joked Walker: “It’s not a competition, but I’m just glad Masyn put one out there. I’ve been telling everybody he has so much pop, and people don’t believe me. But he showed it today.”

Winn’s blast came one day after he hit 99.9 mph on a throw from shortstop to first base to retire a runner at first. The throw was reminiscent of Winn’s 100.5 mph throw in last summer’s SiriusXM Futures Game.

“With me and Walker, I’d say we’re both five-tool athletes,” Winn said with a wry smile. “I’m working on 4 1/2 [tools] with my power tool coming. But we go out every day and try to put on a show. A lot of fans come to see some entertainment, so we try to give it to them.”