Victor

Scott II

Nathan Church will presumably come off the IL to replace Scott and play center field most of the time. Scott is hitting just .194/.276/.258 with nine RBI in 184 plate appearances this season, and while his defense has been above average, it hasn’t been quite as good as last year. He needs to make some real progress offensively before getting another chance. His 24 percent strikeout rate wouldn’t be so bad if he had real power, but since he doesn’t, he needs to make quite a bit more contact.

The Cardinals aren’t going to push Nootbaar from a workload standpoint by throwing him out there for an afternoon contest following a night game. It’ll be Victor Scott II in center field with Nelson Velázquez patrolling left field. The 28-year-old corner outfielder went 2-for-6 with an RBI on Friday night in his season debut.

If Lars Nootbaar can pull off a successful comeback later this month, Scott is probably going to find himself in Triple-A for a spell. He’s hitting just .178/.243/.228, dropping his career line to .202/.277/.283. He’s even disappointed a bit on the basepaths, getting caught on three of his nine steal attempts. Last year, he was 34-for-38.

The Cardinals will probably have Nootbaar spend the full 20 days in the minors or at least something very close to it. Once back, he’ll probably serve as the team’s left fielder. Nathan Church could potentially slide to center if he’s still outplaying Victor Scott II at that point.

Scott’s home run was a solo shot off Braxton Ashcraft in the sixth inning. The 25-year-old outfielder is out there for his speed and defense, but is hitting just .192 with three steals. It’s fair to wonder how much longer the Cardinals might stick with Scott over an intriguing prospect like Joshua Báez.

It’s fair to wonder how much longer the Cardinals will continue sticking with Scott, despite his defensive abilities, since he’s hitting .197/.254/.213 with three steals in 24 games this season. They have top prospect Joshua Báez, who has homered five times in 21 games at Triple-A Memphis this season, waiting on the doorstep of the majors if they decide to make a change in the near future. Báez is striking out nearly 30 percent of the time and could use some additional seasoning, but Scott’s lack of production figures to shorten his timeline to the big leagues.

The 24-year-old outfielder led off the third inning with a single and swiped second base, but the Cardinals were unable to cash him in from there. He also smacked a two-out double in the fifth inning but was left stranded there. He finishes the 2025 season slashing .216/.305/.296 with five homers, 37 RBI and 34 stolen bases (in 38 attempts).

Because of what he brings to the table defensively, Scott’s lack of offense isn’t as much of a problem as, let’s say, Jordan Walker’s. Still, it’s pretty sad that he’s mustered only a .214/.304/.293 line at age 24. He was even worse as a rookie last year, but his 33% hard-hit rate in 53 games as a major leaguer was sort of encouraging. This year, he’s at 26%, which is the seventh lowest mark of the 210 players with at least 400 plate appearances. The Cardinals will surely stick with him next year, but there isn’t much reason to think he’s about to bust out.

Scott, out since August 17 with a sprained ankle, went 1-for-8 on a three-game rehab assignment. He’s not in today’s lineup, but he’ll likely return to being the Cardinals’ primary center fielder, with Nathan Church heading to the bench. Both are left-handed hitters, so there’s no good way for them to share time.

Scott is aiming to return at the end of his injured list stint since he’s merely dealing with swelling and pain tolerance issues in his left ankle. It certainly sounds like there’s optimism he’ll return by late August or early September.