4 surprising players who are off to strong starts for the St. Louis Cardinals

Centerfielder Victor Scott II

Few players can say they had a stronger Spring Training showing than Victor Scott II. The 24-year-old centerfielder finished spring with a .349/.451/.721 slash line in a competition for starts against Michael Siani and Lars Nootbaar. John Mozeliak and Oli Marmol rewarded Scott's efforts with sole possession of centerfield in 2025.

He's run (literally) with the opportunity so far.

Scott is slashing .286/.354/.452 in the young season. He's hit four extra-base hits (two doubles, a triple, and a home run), and he leads the team in stolen bases with five. From the offensive side of things, Scott couldn't have gotten off to a better spot.

His numbers in 2024 were underwhelming across the board (.179/.219/.283 slash line). Scott was not quite ready to take over the mantle of the club's everyday centerfielder, but he was thrust into this spot after Lars Nootbaar and Dylan Carlson suffered injuries early in the year.

Now, VS2 appears ready to be the club's centerfielder both now and in the future.

His offseason work helped prepare him for the regular season in the majors. “Before, it was like ‘Hey man, just go out here and show what you got,'” Scott told Gold and Blue Nation at PNC Park on Monday. “This one was, ‘Look, you have the potential to be our Opening Day center fielder, but if you don’t do what you got to do, then the results could be different.’ So, I knew that coming into it. So, I put a ton of work in, focused up a ton and saw great results during spring training.”

Scott worked diligently with new coaches Brant Brown and Jon Jay during spring training, and he spent countless hours in the video room studying Tony Gwynn, Willie McGee, and Vince Coleman.

Scott's hard work is paying off, and the Cardinals are grateful that he is performing so well to start the year. His performance has allowed the Cardinals to relegate Michael Siani to a bench/defensive replacement role. Victor Scott II is the club's centerfielder of the future, and he's putting on quite a show this year.