Why Victor Scott II deserves another shot

The Cardinals should reward great spring training performances.

Minor sample size warnings should come with March hitting performances, but Victor Scott II defies the agnostic viewpoint. Like his teammate, Luken Baker, Scott II went into the 2025 Jupiter schedule with a chance to win a tug-of-war match with Michael Siani for an outfield spot on Opening Day. The roster cuts will continue over the next week, but the decision between players shouldn’t be hard for fourth-year manager Oli Marmol.

If I were Marmol this summer, I’d keep things simple and direct. Tell Baker and Scott II that they’re going north with the team. Any other decision would be uncivilized and continue an ugly trend of passing up on young talent.

In 35 spring at-bats, Scott II has slapped 13 hits and bashed two home runs, stealing five bases and getting on base at a .416 clip. The outfield defense has always been solid to top-notch at times, showing off dazzling speed and range. His burst off the pitch is among the best in the Majors, and he offers the same highlight reel-worthy catches as his teammate, Michael Siani. The range and route-running aren’t quite as strong as Siani, but the bat has more potential.

St. Louis needs all the offense they can find this year; so does Victor. After a rough start to the 2024 season following a good spring performance, Scott II was called back up near the end of the summer and didn’t show much improvement with extra playing time. The 2025 spring has tromped a decent 2024 spring performance, giving hope that another year lived leads to a few more things unlocked at the plate.

With Jordan Walker having a spring that left some to be desired (he’ll be on the roster and play) and Lars Nootbaar always existing as an Injured List visitor at any second, Scott II’s bat is still necessary. The 2022 fifth-round draft pick could make waves that give the Cardinals some light at the end of the tunnel. Suppose they’re not going to be contending for a division title. In that case, St. Louis has to collect as many baseball soldiers for the future as possible without having to dip their toes into the expensive free-agent market.

Running with Siani has its benefits. He has a flash in the field, showed some life in his bat at times last summer before getting hurt, and offers balance to an outfield with changing parts. But his bat doesn’t project to rise too far above the Mendoza line. Scott II has more upside with the lumber and had a better spring, so he has the spot in my mind. Again, Marmol can keep it simple and see where April takes him and the team.

But what is this month for outside of a tune-up if the Cardinals don’t reward spring performances in a competition like Baker and Scott II? That’s what players like Nolan Arenado spend the month doing: Gearing up for the 162-game grind, relocating his power, and ensuring his mind and body are on the same page. He doesn’t have to worry about getting a roster spot like many invited to camp.

According to John Denton of MLB.com, Scott II enlisted the help of Willie McGee and Vince Coleman this past offseason, during which he moved to Jupiter to start the retooling process before spring camp opened. McGee advised him that trying to hit the ball to the right of the left-fielder would allow him to stretch singles into doubles, and Coleman detailed how every pitcher has a set-in-stone tell for when they’re pitching to the plate.

Denton reports that Marmol and the coaching staff are impressed by Scott II’s transformation this year, which could see him add a multi-faceted tool to the Cardinals’ regular-season roster. While he didn’t set the world on fire at Memphis last summer, you can’t overlook key changes and a strong spring.

If the Cardinals are serious about avoiding stupidly large contracts and letting the young guns roam free, putting Baker and Scott II on the roster for April would be a statement to the fans that the process has *slowly* begun. A less hungry player would have worked on less, spoken to fewer great players, and cruised into camp with the confident swagger of a young player with upside.

Scott II went the other route, pushing himself to accept that 2024 was a speed bump instead of a crash. At only 24 years old and promising a more potent blend of speed and power for the outfield, the kid is only getting warmed up. Now, reward him with a real opportunity instead of the standard cup of coffee the Cardinals offer players who aren’t top prospects.

Oh, Scott II homered again today. He has the potential to be a lethal weapon at the bottom of the lineup this year if the team pulls the trigger and installs him on the roster.