2015 Cardinals Position Players To Watch

Mar 7, 2015; Melbourne, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Xavier Scruggs (59) runs to first base during the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

4. Xavier Scruggs

I could have put many different names on here but I wanted to talk about a potential wild card here for the Cardinals. Scruggs is another interesting player. He will not likely break camp with the club as there are several other players ahead of him for the bench role. Instead Xavier will start the season out in AAA Memphis for the 2nd straight year. Last year saw Scruggs break out of a bit of a career funk that had been haunting him since his first full season in AA Springfield in 2012. He hit .286 with 53 XBH (21 HR) and 87 RBI rounding that out with an OBP of .370. Scruggs for most of his career has played at 1B, however lately the Cardinals have been asking him to become a bit more versatile and to learn the OF; which he started to do in the winter leagues this past winter. This has also lead to him playing in the OF some during ST. I call Scruggs a wild card because if a few situations break his way he could find himself on the Cardinals bench sooner rather than later. For example, if the Cardinals attempt at signing a veteran bench player in Mark Reynolds backfires for the third season in a row; Scruggs could easily find his way up with the big club. There are other scenarios with production, injuries, or trades that could see him have an opportunity to be in St. Louis earlier than September this year.