Carlson’s injury adds new wrinkle to Cardinals’ roster, but affords Scott his shot
The group assembled by the St. Louis Cardinals as their intended opening day roster stayed intact for slightly more than a day before crashing into the grass in right center field at Scottsdale’s Sloan Park, opening a lane for one of the team’s most exciting prospects to speed directly to the major leagues.
An outfield collision Monday between Dylan Carlson and Jordan Walker left Carlson with a sprained AC joint in his left, throwing shoulder, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told the media assembled Tuesday in Arizona. As a result, Victor Scott II will be added to the active roster and make his major league debut on Thursday at Dodger Stadium as the team’s starting centerfielder.
Mozeliak, according to multiple reports, said that Carlson is likely to miss weeks but not months. The switch-hitting outfielder previously won the starting job in center over Scott, displaying strong results from the left side of the plate and leading the team in spring runs batted in.
Carlson will be the sixth player and third outfielder to open the season on the injured list, joining Tommy Edman (wrist) and Lars Nootbaar (ribs), as well as pitchers Sonny Gray (hamstring), Keynan Middleton (forearm), and Drew Rom (biceps).
A fifth round draft pick in 2022, Scott will storm his way to the majors as the first Cardinal to start a season in the big leagues after starting the previous season at A-ball since Jordan Hicks did so in 2018. He batted .316 with a .409 on-base percentage this spring, stealing four bases and playing a superlative defensive centerfield.
Ranked as one of the top 100 prospects in baseball by all major evaluators, Scott tied for the minor league lead in 2023 with 94 stolen bases spread between High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield. He maintained just a 15% strikeout rate while doing so, and profiles as a high contact hitter who is also well known for weaponizing his speed through his top notch bunting skills.
Scott’s push to make the team outright lasted into the last week of camp in Florida, and the team did not reassign him to minor league camp until Saturday, the day before they headed west for their brief warmup against the Chicago Cubs. Manager Oliver Marmol told reporters that day that he expected Scott to make an impact on the Cardinals this season.
At the time, he couldn’t possibly have known that the time for that impact would arrive so soon.
Edman was advertised throughout the winter as the team’s starting centerfielder, but fits and starts in rehab from offseason wrist surgery have left him unable to answer the opening day bell. Nootbaar, ostensibly the starting left fielder, fractured two ribs early in camp while making a leaping catch against the outfield fence.
By leaning on Carlson, the Cardinals planned to slide Brendan Donovan to left field and carry Michael Siani on the bench, owing to Siani’s ability to handle all three outfield spots defensively. He will remain in that position but be leapfrogged by Scott, for whom the Cardinals will seek priority playing time until they receive some relief from the injury bug.
Scott met the team in Arizona on Tuesday afternoon, and waiting for him at his locker was a number 11 jersey to replace the number 91 he had been issued early in camp. A big league player needs a big league number, and at first pitch on Thursday, Scott will officially become the first member of the Cardinals’ 2022 draft class to reach the majors.
Given his speed everywhere else on the field, it comes as no surprise that the fast track was available to him.
