5 players the St. Louis Cardinals did dirty during the 2024 season

Victor Scott II

Despite being one of the conductors of the Victor Scott II hype train all offseason, I had come to a place where his development would be best served by starting the 2024 season in Triple-A. His Spring Training performance was really fun, but he was showing signs of why he was not ready for big-league action yet, and the Cardinals were trending toward that decision as well.

But then it became clear that Tommy Edman would not begin the season on the Opening Day roster, and then Dylan Carlson had a freak injury after a collision with Jordan Walker during the last weekend of Spring Training. Even with Michael Siani as an option, Lars Nootbaar set to return a few weeks into the season, and the opportunity available to sign a veteran if needed, the Cardinals decided to select the contract of Scott and make him their starting center fielder to begin the year.

Saying Scott was overmatched in his first taste of big league action is an understatement. In 65 plate appearances, Scott slashed .085/.138/.136, which resulted in a -22 wRC+, something I have never seen before from a player with that many plate appearances.

Scott was demoted to Triple-A and continued to struggle with his swing for much of the summer. After making some notable changes at the plate to better utilize his lower half, Scott's numbers continued to improve, and when Michael Siani hit the injured list, Scott was able to jump in and take the center field job again.

He's where things got weird again. Scott played well as the Cardinals were quickly fading in the playoff race. By the time Siani was ready to return, the Cardinals were all but mathematically eliminated, and instead of letting Scott finish the season out for his own development, the club first sat him on the bench, and then eventually optioned him to Triple-A again.

It might seem like I am contradicting myself for saying Scott should not have been demoted again, but this is a totally different situation than the beginning of the year. Scott was clearly not ready when he made the Opening Day roster. When he got called back up in August, he had made major strides in his development, and while he could use more seasoning, the club needed him and he was ready enough. Well, things went well, and the club was not making the playoffs, so why not let him keep playing and learning at the big league level?

Scott should be the club's current long-term option in center field, not Siani. Siani is a really nice fourth outfielder to have, but his ceiling long-term is limited by his lack of offensive upside. While Scott is not expected to mash by any means, he provides a higher ceiling there, certainly on the basepaths as well, and could get to Siani's level defensively.

Yes, Siani should have been their choice in early 2024. But not at the end of the season. I don't get how the Cardinals got that backwards.