The Cardinals announced a minor move for their 26-man roster on Monday afternoon ahead of the team's quick four-day home stand against the Pirates, optioning reliever Andre Granillo to Memphis in order to bring Gordon Graceffo back to the MLB roster.
It's another bullpen shuffle for St. Louis after the club swapped out lefty Anthony Veneziano to make room for fellow lefty John King's return from the injured list on Sunday morning.
One move not made on Monday by the Cardinals, though, registers a little more prominently on the radar given the conceivable potential for a Masyn Winn IL stint to have begun on Monday.
The team had reportedly scheduled an MRI for the Gold Glove candidate due to persistent knee pain for Monday in St. Louis after the issue kept Winn out of Sunday's lineup against the Tampa Bay Rays. Per John Denton of MLB.com, it was due to be Winn's second MRI on the troublesome knee in the past couple of months.
Derrick Goold of STL Today reported Monday afternoon that results from the MRI were still pending. Winn is still present and accounted for in Monday's lineup, implying that the day of rest to alleviate the soreness on Sunday was at least somewhat productive for the Cardinals' 23-year-old defensive stalwart.
Winn's desire to play through the soreness and put off any sort of potential surgical intervention until the off-season is an admirable goal. Still, from a risk management perspective in a season that is looking more and more like a lost cause, there's also the line of thought that Winn should look to clear up any lingering issues sooner than later.
As of Monday afternoon, it doesn't seem like Winn has any interest in taking his foot off the gas just yet.
According to video of Winn from the Cardinals clubhouse taken by Jordan Williams of Fox 2 in St. Louis, Winn is aiming to stay in the lineup and continue grinding through the pain for a variety of reasons.
"I probably shouldn't be playing right now...I don't have the right to sit out."
— Jordan Williams (@JordanWilltv) August 25, 2025
As Masyn Winn awaits the results of a left knee MRI, he returns to Monday's lineup fighting through a "constant pain." @FOX2now I #Cardinals pic.twitter.com/OVywlY12cI
It's the type of sentiment that Cardinals fans should love to hear from a player who clearly puts everything he's got into his performance. At some point, though, the Cardinals continuing to run Winn out there in a lost 2025 could become a conversation where the juice is no longer worth the squeeze given the potential risks.