Not, I think, without a script that can identify those cases where it would be appropriate to apply it, and even then you'd need to run the script. But perhaps there's a third party plugin someone knows about.
I think you could probably accomplish this with find/change but it wouldn't be a one step process. If you first search for any digit followed by one of your superscript stings, you can assign a "placeholder" character style (which does absolutely nothing) to all of them, then repeat the search for just the string without the digit, and styled with the placeholder, but change the find formatting to be superscript. You'd need to do it for every combination you want to make superscript, or perhaps there's a GREP query that could find them all at the same time.
I imagine something similar to the FindChangebyList.jsx sample script could be set up to do it as a batch.
But you still need a way to identify WHERE to apply that character style. You can't apply OpenType ordinals, for example, to entire paragraphs without them being applied to unwanted characters.
Maybe a nested style? But is there a way to trigger the change for any number of digits followed by the letters? I can see getting to one number, but how do you deal with 211th avenue and 2nd street using the same criteria? If you simply change to the ordinal style for the next characters up to a space the two 1's in the first string are likely to be superscripted to.
The OP asked for a shortcut key. I assumed that meant that she was looking for an easy way to assign the attribute. A keyboard shortcut can be assigned to a character style.
If she meant someway to automatically do it, I don't think so.
FWIW, when I see indiscriminate ordinals my first thought is that the piece was done in Word by an amateur who doesn't know how to turn them off. :^) Are you sure you want them? Just because Word puts them everywhere doesn't make them attractive or correct.
-- Kenneth Benson Pegasus Type, Inc. www.pegtype.com
Superscripted ordinals were quite popular in the 1800s. But in modern professional typesetting (anything in the last hundred or so years) you won't usually find ordinals superscripted. When you do, it's almost always because the author used Word 97 (or higher), didn't know how to turn them off, and the typesetter was too lazy to take them out (thus, at least in my eyes, making it somewhat less than "professional").
-- Kenneth Benson Pegasus Type, Inc. www.pegtype.com
I often find ordinals superfluous. If you're referring to date, Jan 21 is better than Jan 21st, because the number is more recognizable when scanning the text. If you're referring to placement in a competition, first is better than 1st. About the only place they belong is in addresses, and I tend to prefer not superscripting the letters, although I'm not often the one with the final say.
If you must superscript, either use the OTF ordinals built into the typeface or try to set them as professionally as possible. Look in the Glyphs palette for superscripted 1 and 2. Type one of those, then try to match its appearance with a regular 1 or 2. You'll need to make the text smaller, shift the baseline up, and (if possible) switch to the next heavier weight. When you've got a close match, make the modified number a character style and use that for your text.
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