The rookie the Cardinals believe can take over and shine as their starting shortstop had not finished the first sentence of his first answer Sunday when he brought up the biggest question facing his readiness for that prominent role.

“I think it’s not a secret I definitely struggled at the plate last year,” Masyn Winn said. “That’s been my main focus.”

Winn’s 37-game dress rehearsal in the major leagues this past fall was short enough to preserve his rookie status for 2024 and long enough to give him firsthand experience for how he must improve. The Cardinals are betting that Winn, who turns 22 in March, will continue his trend through the minors. He started slowly at each level, only to adjust, thrive and then, at warp speed, advance. They watched how they drafted him as a two-way player in 2020 and he grew from power-fastball pitching prospect to power-armed shortstop to improving power bat.

The arc of Winn’s career suggests he’ll produce.

His closest friend on the team is sure of it.

“Honestly, I think everybody struggles, and it just happened to him at the beginning,” second-year outfielder and 2020 first-round pick Jordan Walker said Sunday as he joined Winn for the team’s Winter Warm-up. “I’m not worried about him at all. I’ve seen him hit, what, for four years now. I know that he can handle it. I know the type of player he is. He just needs to relax. Just like I had a problem relaxing. I think we’re pretty similar when it comes to that, once he fully relaxes and he can play his game, he’s going to be a great hitter. He’s going to be a great defender.”

Winn earned his promotion to the majors this past year with a .288 average and an .834 on-base plus slugging percentage to go with 18 homers in 105 games at Triple-A Memphis. The Cardinals, having drifted from contention, timed his arrival so that he would maintain his rookie eligibility and their chance to possibly earn a draft pick if he plays all season in the majors and takes a run at the National League Rookie of the Year award. He has the makings.

A speedy, gifted athlete with already the best arm of any shortstop in the majors, Winn can be an elite fielder who also has to get his offensive game to catch up.

In 137 at-bats in the majors, Winn hit .172 with more strikeouts (26) than hits (21). Through one treacherous 10-game stretch in September, he had four hits in 40 plate appearances while only striking out four times. The Cardinals committed playing time to him and expressed confidence in him and his offense started to stir — and then the season ended.

“It’s in there,” manager Oliver Marmol said this winter. “I’m not concerned at all with Masyn’s offense. ... I love Masyn Winn. His mentality. His skill set. The way he approaches the game. He’s constantly wanting to learn. He’s open. He’s coachable. But his competitive nature is incredible. He doesn’t scare. He came in, and he knew that, I mean, the league was tough. And he experienced that. But he never backed down. That’s an awesome quality, especially at his age.”

An emphasis of this offseason was a misstep from September.

Winn went through several different approaches at the plate as he scrambled to find some success in the majors. Winn noted Sunday how he had a “scissor kick” in his swing, and while that helped him unlock some power, it also led to some inconsistency when he started lunging toward pitches. His front foot did not always land in the same spot. Through the afternoon, he would watch Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado go through their warmups in the batting cage and see how no matter the drill, the stance and step and timing and bat path was the same. He’d get into games and his foot might hit a different spot on swings within an at-bat.

Winn felt his front leg moving forward rather than his body coiling around his back leg — and that limited his ability to drive the ball with authority.

He had an anxious swing.

But not to because he was chasing hits.

“I think it was a fear of striking out,” Winn said. “Me not being the biggest guy in the world, I want to get on base as much as Tommy Edman or Lars Nootbaar might. For me, I think it was just I don’t want to strike out. I want to show these guys I can compete. I think that was causing me to swing at some pitches that I shouldn’t have been swinging at.

“Going back and looking at video or some film, I definitely see my swing change a couple of times,” he added. “I think that’s just me being young and maybe going 0 for 10 or so and thinking that’s the end of the world. I think the biggest thing for me was trying to rush it, trying to change too much too quick.”

Quick has always been his approach.

When the minor leagues restarted after the pandemic, Winn began at Class A and hit .190 with a .324 on-base percentage and a .262 slugging percentage in his first month. He soared to a .306 average and a .469 slugging percentage in his second month. Promoted to High-A, Winn hit .198 in his first month and slugged .279. When he returned to that level to start 2022, Winn blitzed the league with a .386 average and a .614 slugging percentage in his first full month, and he had an OPS greater than .900 in his first 32 games. He moved up quickly.

A breakout spring training this past year put him at Class AAA Memphis to start the year and — well, he started slow. He hit .223 in the first full month and .230 with a .327 slugging percentage in his first 27 games. In the next 78, Winn hit .310.

He slugged .529, including .750 slugging in 92 at-bats during July.

“I’m not a stranger to struggle,” Winn said. “I’ve struggled pretty much every level that I’ve gone to whenever I’ve first gotten up there. Struggled for a bit and then worked it out. Definitely learned I can take a little bit of failure. I definitely don’t want to. I’d rather hit .350 like everybody else. I’m still a young kid. It feels like I’m trying to mature myself a little bit quicker to be around these guys.”

The Cardinals have Edman, a Gold Glove finalist the past two seasons, as their alternative at shortstop and Dylan Carlson as his challenger for playing time in the outfield. If Winn struggles offensively, it would be possible for the Cardinals to return Edman to shortstop and turn to Carlson, if he performs offensively, in center field. The Cardinals believe their best defensive team is Winn at shortstop and Edman in center, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Saturday. He said strength elsewhere in the lineup gives them “bandwidth to absorb a little bit if it’s a slow start” for Winn.

They’ve seen him get up to speed before.

How he does it is the work like he’s done in the batting cage this winter near his home in Houston. The Cardinals saw how his athleticism gives him a knack to swiftly adopt instruction as far back as the offseason hitting camps for top prospects in Jupiter, Florida. And don’t discount Winn’s competitive streak, Walker said. He sees it when they’re playing video games or “when it comes to arguing who is the best basketball player of all time,” Walker said.“I’ll argue Jordan. He argues LeBron. It’s the competitive spirit he has.”

And he’s competitive with weight gain. Walker put on some muscle this offseason, and Winn has been trying to as well — attempting to begin spring training at 195 pounds so he reaches 180 pounds during the season and does not start there.

All of that — the swing, the work, the learning from last season’s struggles, the weight gain — are the steps he’s taking to prove the Cardinals correct.

That he’s ready to start here.

“I know they believed in me last year, and I know they still believe in me,” Winn said. “Every day, I want to go out there compete and compete for a spot. I’ve never felt entitled for anything. I don’t want to be given a spot. I want to go out there and earn it.”